HLHS 101 Medical Terminology - Evansville: Databases

Here are some useful tips to help you get the most out of your catalog and database searches. 

• Start with a keyword search. Keyword searches will give you a broad range of results so you can see more of the types of information available.
• Be sure to try multiple searches and search terms. Think of all the possible terms for a topic including alternate names, spellings, or abbreviations. 
• Truncation allows you to search for all possible endings to a root word. For example using Child* in the databases will find results that contain child, children, childhood, child's, etc. 
• The databases offer you a tool to limit the publication dates to a specific time period.  Publishers will often date ahead of the calendar, so set the end range ahead a few months.   
• Check the article type. Many journals will include editorials and book and film reviews that should not be used as research sources.
• The databases Academic Search Premier, Health Business, and MEDLINE are all owned by EBSCO. When you go in to any of these databases you can click on the blue Choose Databases link at the top of the page and select other databases to search all at the same time.  This will slow the database down a bit, but can save you time in the long run. 

The Open Access publishing model allows you to access these journals anywhere, anytime, no strings attached.  So, even after you have left school and you need to do some medical research remember these resources.