Searching by Subject
Formulating your Search Strategy
To get the best results from a search you will need to analyse your question.
| Sample Question: What are the economic arguments for and against population based screening for colorectal cancer. |
 Some of the questions you need to ask yourself include: | ||
| 1. | What are the main keywords or facets of the question? | Medical condition - colorectal cancer Intervention - screening method - population based Emphasis - economics |
| 2. | How do the facets or keywords relate? Are they synonyms? How will you combine your terms? |
All facets must be discussed colorectal cancer AND population based screening AND economics |
| 3. | How much and what kind of information do you need? |
For the purpose of the tutorial let us look at the following options. Limited number of relevant references (20-50) Overview of the literature Comprehensive Search (for a Literature Review) Clinical Evidence -- Class in June |
Practical Session
| Much of the tutorial will be divided into 2 frames. | |
| Left frame | will hold the instructions for the tutorial. There are links to explanations which open in blue screens. Read the information on the blue screens, then close the blue screen to continue the tutorial. |
| Right frame | opens into an OVID database screen, after clicking on the Database Link. |
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