1. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 1 STRUCTURED APPROACH TO DATABASE / LITERATURE SEARCHING Vasumathi Sriganesh QMed Knowledge Foundation info@qmedkf.org.in

2. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 2 QMED KNOWLEDGE FOUNDATION l Three year old not for profit trust l Mission: To train and enable healthcare professionals to obtain the best evidence from systematic research l We work with students, faculty, practitioners and libraries in the health sciences domain

3. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 3 RESEARCH DISCOVERY Four steps l Identify your research problem l Identify types of resources you hope to find l Identify the appropriate search tools to retrieve and organize the information l Carefully and critically evaluate the information you have found

4. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 4 Identifying the problem

5. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 5 IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM l Defining the problem clearly l Defining the reason for the information-quest

6. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 6 RESEARCH PROBLEM l Simple ---------> Complex –Meaning of Osteoarthritis –Information about Kawasaki Disease –Incidence of breast cancer amongst unmarried women in North India –Is bed rest better than being active for low back pain and sciatica

7. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 7 RESEARCH PROBLEM Reasons l Meaning of Osteoarthritis –I have to show off to my older brother l Information about Kawasaki Disease –Need to prove to the world that I know a lot

8. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 8 RESEARCH PROBLEM Reasons l Incidence of breast cancer amongst unmarried women in North India –I want to relate the incidence of breast cancer to xxxx l Is bed rest better than being active for low back pain and sciatica l I have to treat a patient with lbp + sciatica and there is conflicting evidence

9. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 9 Types of Resources

10. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 10 TYPES OF RESOURCES Traditional l Books –Text books / Monographs l Journals

11. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 11 TYPES OF RESOURCES Traditional l Other reference sources –Dictionaries / Encyclopediae / Biographical sources –Handbooks / Manuals etc

12. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 12 TYPES OF RESOURCES Traditional l “Indexes” –Monthly / Cumulative l Directories / Lists

13. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 13 RESOURCES l Primary – The resource l Secondary – List of resources l Tertiary – List of lists of resources

14. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 14 IT ERA l Same sources on the web –Formerly in print l New – E-only resources –Based on the above l Search engines –General –Databases with highly featured search engines l Meta-search engines

15. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 15 Appropriate Search Tools

16. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 16 APPROPRIATE SEARCH TOOLS l Simple –Google it –Google it l Slightly more complex / important reasons –Know standard resources and search them l Complex / very important questions –Best resources, best search strategies, if needed – all possible resources, with indepth strategies

17. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 17 APPROPRIATE RETRIEVAL / ORGANIZATION l Web-enabled updating tools like email alerts / RSS feeds l Storage in bibliographic managers for easy re-retrieval –Using importing / other tech-based tools

18. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 18 Evaluating Internet Information

19. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 19 AUTHORITY OF SOURCE l Author - individual l Institution l Sponsor l Issues to check: –Credibility –Bias –Political or other linking?

20. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 20 RECENCY OF INFORMATION l When was the site last updated l How often is it updated l Is there any obsolete information l Are there archives to check old information l How quickly is any latest information added

21. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 21 SITE ORGANIZATION l Ease of navigation l Links –Too few –Too many –Key links from home page l Good index / sitemap / search facility

22. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 22 PURPOSE l Intended audience l Students / professionals / lay people  Objective  Inform or persuade?  Promotional?  Check  Is the information original or copied  with or without permission

23. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 23 EVALUATING AT INFO-LEVEL Eg – a Journal article can make a tall claim – “this drug is fantastic”. Need to evaluate l Methodology of study –True randomization / blinding / allocation concealment? –Statistics / calculations – correct? –Other bias – eliminated?

24. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 24 BACK TO RESEARCH PROBLEMS l Simple ---------> Complex –Meaning of Osteoarthritis –Information about Kawasaki Disease –Incidence of breast cancer amongst unmarried women in North India –Is bed rest better than being active for low back pain and sciatica

25. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 25 IDEAL SOURCES l Medical Dictionaries / Encyclopedia l Databases –PubMed (index to journal articles) –Cochrane Library (Systematic Reviews) –“Summaries” (UpToDate, First Consult, BEST BETS / Bandolier)

26. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 26 ABOUT GOOGLE l Brilliant resource, but… (Demo of a google search on prostodin in labor – first shows a blog of a medical intern and his case)

27. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 27 WHAT DOES ONE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DATABASES? Scope of coverage l What it covers l What it does not l Time span

28. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 28 WHAT DOES ONE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DATABASES? Availability: Free or paid for? l What is the difference? l When is “free” adequate, and when it isn’t

29. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 29 CONCEPTS - SEARCHING

30. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 30 PRECISION & RECALL l Precision –Specific, pinpointed l Recall –Broad-based, generic, related coverage included

31. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 31 BOOLEAN OPERATORS l AND l OR l NOT

32. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 32 BOOLEAN – ‘AND’ Malaria Filaria AND = articles on Malaria and Filaria

33. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 33 BOOLEAN – ‘OR’ MalariaFilaria OR = articles on Malaria OR Filaria OR both

34. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 34 BOOLEAN – ‘NOT’ NOT = articles on Malaria BUT NOT Filaria Malaria Filaria

35. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 35 DEMO l Primary –Journals / Clinical Trials l Secondary –PubMed l Tertiary –Hardin Meta Directory –TRIP Database

36. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 36 DEMO l Synthesis –UpToDate

37. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 37 ORGANIZING FOR FUTURE l PubMed – Save search / Collections –Email alerts l Zotero – importing citations l Mendeley – importing citations

38. © QMed Knowledge Foundation 2011 38 THANK YOU www.qmedkf.org.in