Searching databases
The search planner has been designed to match EBSCO databases, making it easy for you to transfer your search strategy from the search planner into a database. On this page, we'll show you how to select, search and get the most out of the library databases.
Choose relevant database/s for your topic
Databases are online collections of evidence (e.g. articles and reports) which are used to find credible and high-quality information on a specific area of study. Check relevant resource guides for your subject area to find databases recommended by your librarians. Helpful databases to explore in your studies may include:
- MEDLINE Complete - contains literature focused on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, life sciences, nutrition, social work, occupational therapy etc.
- CINAHL Complete - contains literature for all areas of nursing and allied health. Supports nursing and allied health professionals, students, educators and researchers.
- APA PsycInfo - contains literature on psychology and related disciplines.
- SportDISCUS with Full Text - contains literature on exercise science, sports medicine and sport related disciplines.
- Global Health - A large public health database that covers international health as well nutrition and biomedical literature.
- SocINDEX - A comprehensive sociology research database focused on social work, society etc.
Searching health databases
Watch the video (6:45) below which explains this process and provides further information on searching health databases.
Transferring your search into a health database
Now that you've identified which database/s you'll be searching in, you can start transferring your search strategy from your search planner into your chosen database.
As demonstrated in the image below, the search planner has been designed to match EBSCO databases, making it easy for you to transfer your search strategy.
Add search techniques to your keywords
Two common problems you might face include finding too many results or not enough. Go back through your keywords in your search planner table and use the techniques below to broaden or narrow your search.
| Search Technique | When to use it? | Example | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| AND | Searching for two different concepts | Children AND ASD | Narrows search results |
| OR | Searching for two similar concepts | Hospital OR ward | Broadens search results |
| Phrase searching | Searching for an exact phrase | "intensive care" | Narrows search results |
| Truncation | Searching for alternative word endings | child* | Broadens search results |
| Brackets | Grouping concepts in a single search box | (child* OR kid) AND "emergency department*" | Allows grouping of keywords within a single search box |
Your Task
- Open MEDLINE Complete or your chosen database in a new window on your web browser.
- Enter the search you created using the search planner into the search box.
- Review the results page and select one paper that looks relevant to your topic.
Run and refine your search
The first search you run should find some academic articles useful to completing your assessment, but it will not find all of them. After running the first search it is important to skim read the academic articles that appeared in the database based on your search strategy.
Keep looking out for alternative keywords as you scan the articles in your search results to add to your search strategy. Experiment with your keywords and concepts - trying different search techniques, adding or removing concepts and testing more specific or general keywords. Always be guided by search result relevance.
Too many search results? Try...
- Double check you used your search techniques (*, “”) and operators correctly (AND, OR)
- Are there more specific terms you can use?
- Search in just the abstracts (use the ‘select a field’ drop-box)
- Use some limiters (date, language)
- Add a concept, if relevant, e.g. Australia*
Too few search results? Try...
- Double check you used your search techniques (*, “”) and operators correctly (AND, OR)
- Explore broader topics in the literature
- Re-evaluate your topic or question
- Try citation searching to check out different terminology used in the area
Results not relevant? Try...
- Double check your terms and concepts, consider if there are better terms or concepts you can use instead
- Using a health-specific database from the relevant Library Resource Guide
- Contacting your librarian for advice
Can't find what you need? Try citation searching!
Citation searching is a process where you search for the title of an article to find citing articles and references. The benefit of this search method is finding articles not by keywords in your search, but by the relationship between papers as expert authors in their field cite other relevant studies.
Check out the video (4:58) below for an overview of citation searching
Any relevant article on your topic can be "citation searched" to find citing articles and references using Scopus or Web of Science
Tip
Unfortunately there is no one academic article that can perfectly address your assessment topic. Many academic articles need to be collected and evaluated to find useful information to help address your assessment topic.