W
elcome! This guide is a resource for Nursing students, faculty and staff. It lists the best Hoffman Family Library resources for nursing research, including books, eBooks, journal articles, videos and more! In today's world we have so much information at our fingertips, but it is becoming more time consuming and difficult to find information we actually need quickly and efficiently. Use this resource guide as a starting point for locating and using good, quality information for nursing related subjects. You will find a list of librarian reviewed websites, links to research databases and additional information relating to this subject.
If you have any questions please contact a librarian! Your Librarian is available via IM, phone or email.
To get into HFL databases:
On Campus Access: Electronic resources are accessible on-campus.
Off Campus Access: Access resources off-campus via the Library website by logging in with your Goodwin credentials.
Abstract – A brief summary or overview of the main points of a work.
Annotated bibliography – A list of source citations with a summary or brief statement about each.
Bibliography (also References or Works Cited) – An alphabetical list of sources such as books, articles, websites, or other information used to compose a writing project. Includes information such as the title, author, volume and issue, website URL, and date of publication for each source.
Citation – A reference to a particular article, book chapter or other source; usually includes at least the title, author, and year of publication. Bibliographies are collections of citations.
Original research article - An article written by the researchers that explains the research and its findings.
Parenthetical citation – Source citations within the text of a written work that point the reader to the original source of the information, listed in detail in the Bibliography, References, or Works Cited at the end of the work.
Peer-reviewed journal (also Refereed journal) – A journal that uses a panel of subject experts (the “peers” of the authors submitting articles) to review and select articles for publication in the journal, according to its publication standards.
Periodical – A magazine or journal published at regular intervals.
Primary source – An artifact or document from the time period in which an event occurred.
Qualitative research – Research that involves analysis through observation and interpretation. Data may be in the form of observation or artifacts. Qualitative research seeks to describe and interpret.
Quantitative research – Research using data in the form of numerical data and statistical models. Quantitative research seeks to accurately measure or count.
Review article – An article that offers an overview of research in subject area to-date.
Secondary source – An analysis or commentary on an event after it has passed.
Thesis – A research project required to earn a master’s degree.
Thesis statement – A statement at the beginning of a paper that explains what the paper is about. For research, it might also state the results of the study.
Choosing search words is a challenge for researchers. Sometimes, there is not a good fit between the possible words and the concepts. Other times, you just don't know what the best words are at first.
1. Keep it simple. Choose a word or short phrase (in quotation marks, if it helps) for each concept. Which words distinguish your concept? Many words you might use could show up in many articles on lots of topics. Don't bother with those, if you can avoid them.
2. Before you start, think. What words would researchers use? Think about narrower words, broader words, and words that are related. Consider jotting them down or making a document that you can copy and paste from.
3. Watch for alternative words as you go. Look at the subject headings!
4. As you go, think about adding more words to get fewer results that are more focused on your topic. Or try taking words out or substituting in words with broader meanings, in order to get more results. You can search on authors, methodologies, data sources, outcomes, or almost anything else of interest.
5. Consider searching in the CINAHL Headings and PubMed MeSH databases before you start really searching for articles.
6. You can ask for help also!!
7. If you have synonyms or related terms, you can search on them at the same time using OR.
examples: (teenagers OR adolescents OR youths)
("eating disorders" OR bulimia OR anorexia)
You can also use the asterisk, to search for different variations of a word.
Example: theor* will find all these: theory, theories, theoretical
PICO
Helps with creating an answerable, useful question. Helps with choice of search words.
Problem or population -- soccer players
Intervention -- preventive training (or more specific type of preventive training)
Comparison treatment (or placebo) -- alternate type of preventive training? what's being used up to now.
Outcome -- count frequency and severity of injuries. Missed games or training.
