1. BME1450: Biomaterials and Biomedical Research
Michelle Baratta
Engineering & Computer Science Library
Maria Buda
Dentistry Library

2. Session Objectives Focus, systematize your searches
Select best search tools
Engineering and multidisciplinary resources
Health sciences resources
Organize search results

3. Article Databases Good sorting functions
Many use controlled terminology
Identify general or literature review articles easily
Limit searches to specific treatments of topics: e.g., experimental, theoretical, applications, economic
Advanced citation search features – identify significant papers, authors; track development of research through time

4. Building A Search Strategy
Before you begin searching in a database, you will have:
Defined the focus of your question
Identified the key concepts
Search strategy will change depending on: topic
- resources used

5. Search Strategy
Now you need to find alternate terms for your key concepts:
broader, narrower, related terms
acronyms
plural/singular, spelling variations - use the truncation symbol, usually *
Now you need to find alternative terms for your key concepts:
Synonyms or related terms (broader, narrower) (e.g. scientific and common name)
Plural/singular forms (woman or women, region or regions)
Spelling variations (aluminum or aluminium)
Acronyms (MRI or magnetic resonance inmaging)
Variations of a root word - using the truncation symbol (manag* = manager, managing, managed, management)

6. Broadening your search
Concept #1
Concept #2
Concept #3

7. PICO Clinical queries P = problem/population/patient I = intervention
C = comparison
O = outcome

8. Keywords searches titles, abstracts, subject headings problems
Typos in the database
False drops
You pick the wrong keywords
you pick cancer, they use neoplasms, tumor, etc.

9. Thesaurus Searching uses a built-in list of subject terms
terms are assigned no matter what keywords the author uses
enables consistency
Powerful way to search
*only some databases use controlled terminology

10. Improving the quality & depth of your research: strategies for a literature review
The search tools you use will greatly determine the quality and depth of sources you find
One problem: no single database does the job

11. So, which ones to use? A strategy:
Select 2 or 3 or even 4 likely databases
Construct a search
Use appropriate syntax, limits
Use citation management software such as Endnote or RefWorks to manage citations, eliminate duplicates

12. Identifying Quality Sources
Peer-reviewed journals
Articles are critically evaluated by experts on the subject before it is published
Journal Ranking
ISI Journal Citation Reports database uses citation data to ‘rank’ journals
No method is perfect

13. When using citation data, beware..
Assumption of correlation between ‘peer esteem’ and ‘citation rate’
Simple count does not take into account context of citation
e.g., “by misinterpretation of their own data, Smith et al erroneously suggest that…”
Some of these tools exclude important engineering literature: preprints, tech reports, patents, conference papers

14. Engineering Databases for biomedical/biomaterials research
Compendex
Inspec
IEEE Xplore
SciFinder Scholar
ACM
Also multidisciplinary databases (ProQuest, Web of Science, Scopus)

15. Start at: engineering.library.utoronto.ca

16. Off-Campus login

18. ProQuest Technology Research Database ProQuest Illustrata: Technology
ProQuest Illustrata: Natural Sciences
NTIS Database (National Technical Information Service)
Biological Sciences
Can be searched simultaneously

19. Which databases (that we discussed) allow you to search for review articles?
a) Compendex
b) Scopus
c) Web of Science
d) A and C
e) All of the above

20. Which databases utilize controlled terminology?
a) Web of Science
b) Scopus
c) Compendex
d) A and C
e) All of the above

21. Medical databases for biomedical/biomaterials research
PubMed
Ovid Medline

22. Start at: http://www.library.utoronto.ca/gerstein
Gerstein Science Information Centre

23. PubMed PubMed @ U of T – includes links to UTL full-text holdings
MEDLINE = 5400 indexed journals from the U.S. and 80 other countries
Plus other health science journals, e-books, e-resources
Articles indexed using MeSH – Medical Subject Headings (for more efficient searching)

24. PubMed

25. PubMed

26. Ovid Medline Can search one database or multiple databases at one time
Uses controlled vocabulary (MeSH for MEDLINE; Emtree for EMBASE)
Limit searches
Save searches, my workspace

27. Ovid Medline (and more)

28. What it the most appropriate database to find articles on adrenalin and heart rate?
a. MEDLINE
b. EMBASE
c. PsychInfo
d. Film/TV Documentation Collection

29. What is the most efficient way to search PubMed?
a. Basic search
b. MeSH search
c. MoSt search
d. Google search

30. UTL Catalogue You do not need the exact author, title
Searches electronic and print resources
Searches the whole system or just a specific library

31. UTL Catalogue

32. RefWorks Importing citations from all databases
Create a citation list of the style you choose in a word document
Write-N-Cite: creates bibliography as you write your paper
Can share citations with your group

33. RefWorks

34. Questions

35. Computer Science Library
Michelle Baratta
Engineering &
Computer Science Library
Maria Buda
Dentistry Library
x4607