Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading content…
Loading…
Transcript

Summing Up and help!

Lost? Come and speak to us 1-2-1 or in a small group. You can book at the Ask Desk in the library or

http://askus.edgehill.ac.uk/ for some FAQs

Databases and searching

Lisa McLaren and Helen Miller

lisa.mclaren@edgehill.ac.uk helen.miller@edgehill.ac.uk

Assignment writing and referencing

Ian Gannon iain.gannon@edgehill.ac.uk

Planning a Search Strategy

Do's and Don'ts!

Do

Don't

Decide how comprehensive you want to be

Keep a record of your search terms or save your search

Use the online help

Use alternative spellings

  • Misspell your keywords!
  • Use vague keywords

"diabetes" will give you over 5 million results on Discovermore

Why Search Skills are important

An information literate person knows when and why they need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner (CILIP, 2004).

*Transferrable skills that you can use in employment

* Help with evidence based health care

The problems

Common mistakes

  • Using the wrong tool
  • Lack of knowledge about how some databases work
  • Not planning a search strategy
  • Huge amount of information on the internet
  • Getting to grips with the library resources

Get searching

Start searching

Choose your database.

You might want Cinahl, Proquest or something more specialist?

You might be informed by

  • Previous research you've done
  • Work by a particular author

You might need the internet - check out the 'Online Research' tab in Your FoHSC Resources on Learning Edge.

Create a search statement

Select the right resources to use

Evaluate your results

Use these three terms to put your search together - don't type a question!

Try truncation to save time e.g. child* will pick up child, children, childhood etc.

Our search statement could look like this:

ethics AND GM food AND diet

Getting started

(ethics or morality) AND genetically modified food AND (diet or nutrition)

Too many?

  • You need narrower phrases or limits

Too few?

  • Broader terms or a different tool or evaluate your topic

Understanding your question

An example!

Look at the question -are there any unfamiliar terms?

  • Check a subject dictionary or ask your module leader
  • Make sure you are comfortable with the terms
  • Define your information need

Example question:

"Discuss the ethical issues related to genetically modified food in the human diet"

Keywords: ethics

genetically modified food

human

diet

Identify phrases and keywords

Identify synonyms and related terms

  • Pull out the main concepts from the question
  • Ignore 'discuss' or 'analyse' - this only gives you guidance on how to write it.

Use the database thesaurus and indexing to help you!

UK vs US terms and spellings

Paediatrics or Pediatrics

Formal vs informal terms

Heart attack or Myocardial infarction

For our essay question, how about

ethics or morality

genetically modified food or GM food or genetic engineering

diet or nutrition or consumption

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi