1. Cardinal Meyer Library
How to find
Nursing Research

2. Cardinal Meyer Library
Contact Information
Cardinal Meyer Library
45 South National Avenue
Fond du Lac, WI 54935
Reference: (920)
Circulation: (920)
Fax: (920)
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3. Topics Off-Campus Access Journal Databases CINAHL OVID
Other Suggested Resources
Medline and Health Source
Full Text Journal Holdings
Searching Tips and Tricks
Online Citation Manual

4. Off-Campus Access
To access databases from home, users must enter the following information:
A barcode is put on the back of a Library Card or Marian ID Card. If you do not have a library card or a barcode on the back of ID, please call the Circulation Desk at (920)

5. Journal & Periodical Databases
Journals and periodicals may be searched within the Cardinal Meyer Library’s numerous databases.
Accessing a Database
Connect to the library homepage
Click on Databases

6. Selecting a Database
Alphabetical List: If you know the name of the database you would like to search, select it from the A-Z list.
Subject List: by selecting a subject, i.e. nursing, all databases indexing that subject related journals will be listed. This is helpful if you are not familiar with the types of databases the library subscribes to.

7. CINAHL
CINAHL: The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature provides indexing for over 1,979 journals from the fields of nursing and allied health, with indexing back to CINAHL Plus with Full Text also contains searchable cited references for more than 990 journals and provides full text for hundreds of journals, plus legal cases, clinical innovations, critical paths, drug records, research instruments and clinical trials. PDF back files to 1937 are also included.
CINAHL is an excellent place to begin all nursing research.

8. CINAHL cont. Search Options: Basic or Advanced Keyword
Enter keywords into the search boxes, then select a search method from the right hand drop down menus (all text, author, subject, journal title, language, location, article title, etc).

9. CINAHL cont.
Once keywords have been entered, choose some limiters below the keyword search boxes.
Peer Reviewed and Research Article are two excellent limiters to select when searching for nursing research

10. CINAHL cont. A list of articles will display as follows:
To display an article full text, the following symbol must be present under the citation:

11. CINAHL cont.
If you are finding too many articles, try narrowing your search by:
Adding another keyword to your search
Searching for your keywords in only the abstract (summary) of the article
use the drop down menu next to your keywords and pick AB Abstract to search only in the abstract
Clicking on a subject link on the left side
of the search results to narrow your
search to a specific subject

12. CINAHL cont. Print/Email/Save
To print/ /save a PDF file use the features on the Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader it can be downloaded for free from
Check Full Text Journals Link
If there is no option for PDF Full Text available for a particular journal article, click on the “Check Full Text Journals” link below the citation.
Clicking the Check Full Text Journals link will search all of the library’s other databases and collections for the journal that you are looking for. For more information, see the Full Text Journals section of this presentation.

13. Ovid Nursing Journals Ovid indexes 28+ full text nursing journals.
NOTE: To prevent unnecessary use of an Ovid software license & delays in subsequent logins, click the Logoff icon when you finish your search session.
Ovid Full Text journals can be accessed via CINAHL.
It is recommended to begin your search in CINAHL and switch to OVID when you need to get the full text of an article.

14. OVID cont. Search Options: Subject/Keyword, Author, Journal, Title
Keyword Searching
This is the default search screen that will appear when OVID is first accessed. Click on the “Limiters” link to show a list of optional limits to your search.
Type in a single subject word or phrase in the search box. Then click the “Search” button.
A box will display the terms you entered and the number of articles relevant to those terms.

15. OVID cont. The search results will be displayed as shown below:
Click on the “OVID Full Text” link to view the full text of an article.

16. OVID cont.
To get the article in PDF format, click on the OVID Full Text link, then select the Full Text PDF option from the Links column as shown below.
NOTE: once finished with database please click the “Logoff” icon on the top right on the screen.

17. Other Suggested Databases
MEDLINE: provides authoritative medical information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, etc. Created by the National Library of Medicine, MEDLINE allows users to search abstracts from over 4,600 current biomedical journals.
NOTE: Medline is not a full text database, but articles can be found full text using the “Full Text Journal Holdings” link on the library homepage. This link helps locate articles full text in another database than the one being searched.
Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition: provides nearly 600 scholarly journals focusing on many medical disciplines. Nursing/Academic Edition also features abstracts and indexing for nearly 650 journals. It also includes the Lexi-PAL Drug Guide which provides up-to-date, concise and clinically relevant drug monographs.

18. Full Text Journal Holdings
NOTE: Not all articles found within a database will be full text, depending on the database coverage of a particular journal and copyright. If an article is found that is not full text in a database being used follow the instructions below.
Print out or record the complete citation so that the article can be searched on other databases and in the library’s print collection.
Access the library’s homepage
Click on Full Text Journals
To retrieve full text articles from specific magazines, journals or newspapers, search the Title Index by exact title, by word or words in the title, or by ISSN, or browse by subject.

19. Full Text Journal Holdings
If the journal is listed, a database will be posted after the journal title and will be hyperlinked. Click on the database to access the journal in full text (see below for Journal of Advanced Nursing):
If the library does not have the journal online, click on the in Marian University Library link (if present) to search SabreCat (online catalog) for print holdings. If the library has the print journal it will be shelved in alphabetical order on the mezzanine (second floor).
If you are a distance education student (i.e. MAAP) the library will make a photocopy of any article you need in the print collection and mail it to your home. Please fill out the Interlibrary Loan Form for articles located on the library homepage or call the Circulation desk at (920)

20. Full Text Journal Holdings
If the journal title is not available online or in the print collection, it may be available through Interlibrary Loan. Use the citation to fill out an Interlibrary Loan Form for articles located on the library homepage. It may take 7-12 days for an article to arrive through Interlibrary Loan.

21. Search Tips and Tricks
Start researching your topic as broadly as possible, it is easier to narrow down the number of articles than it is to try to go from 1 result to 100.
Break down your research topic into a few main keywords.
For example, the effect of parental attitudes on childhood obesity could be broken down into two chunks: childhood obesity and parental attitudes.
If available, select the Peer Reviewed or Scholarly Journals option. This will limit the articles to only those that are good for academic research.

22. Tips and Tricks cont.
Look for PDF copies of articles, these are the best for research. They will look exactly like the article did in the journal and have the same page numbers. That is important for citing the article in a paper.
Remember to click the Check Full Text Journals link if a PDF is not available.
If you are not finding many articles or not finding the right articles, brainstorm for other words to describe your topic.
For example, children may be described as adolescents, teenagers, teens, pre-teens, infants, toddlers, etc.
Think about the human response to the phenomena, how you would like to help your patient or family and what the implications are for nursing practice.

23. Online Citation Manual
For assistance with citations please contact the Writing Center at or visit their website: OR
Consult the APA style book available at the reference desk
Visit the APA Style website:

24. Questions?
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the reference desk at (920) Or
Fill out the Ask A Reference Librarian form
the reference librarians at