Best Search Tools for Science / Biology
-
CINAHL
CINAHL with Full Text provides authoritative coverage for thousands of journals from the fields of nursing and allied health. It covers nursing, biomedicine, health sciences librarianship, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and dozens of allied health disciplines. In addition, this database offers access to health care books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of practice, educational software, audiovisuals and book chapters, as well as Evidence-Based Care Sheet.
-
MEDLINE
Provides citations from current biomedical journals. Topics covered include medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and pre-clinical sciences.
-
Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Collection
Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Collection provides access to academic journals and magazines covering the fields of fitness and sports. The database offers a wide spectrum of information, including proven treatment techniques, experimental research, and more.
Which one?
Which database should you use?
- Write down your query. See constructing and understanding a query for more help.
- Select a tool / library database / search engine.
- does it match your specific topic? read the description of the library database
- if you have keywords, search them in the tool
- Make notes about what you find.
- did you immediately find something useful to read or download? great! make sure you save something which you can cite
- does a new keyword keep appearing in your results? add it to your list of keywords to put in your concept map or outline
- Try another tool as you have time and if it matches your query.
Instead of Wikipedia or WebMD
-
Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. These reference materials once were accessible only in the library, but now you can access them online from the library or remotely 24/7. Because each library creates its own eBook collection, the content you see may vary if you use the database at different libraries (your school, your public library, or your office).
It contains brief 1-8 page descriptions and detailed definitions - use it instead of Wikipedia or WebMD to define core ideas, like "high blood pressure"