Scholarly resources have the following characteristics:
When doing research for a paper, you will get your best results by using good search techniques. We are all used to using Google to find things easily, but Google is not the best tool for the first steps of college-level research. It's much more efficient and productive to use library databases, and to learn a few good skills so that when you do use Google, you can use it effectively.
First, let's learn more about searching for scholarly articles:
Learn to use keywords to search well:
As you search, think about:
The library has many videos on research skills and using particular databases. See more videos about research skills here!
The library subscribes to a wide range of databases that allow you to search for specific information. Below you will find the complete database list, A-Z Databases, as well as databases recommended for medical and health research.
Full-text articles from nursing and allied health journals covering nursing, biomedicine, health sciences, alternative/complementary medicine, consumer health and allied health disciplines.
Search any or all EBSCOHost databases at once. Over 15 academic, general, multidisciplinary and specialized databases.
When conducting research, especially in a database, it is helpful to know the medical or scientific term for what you are researching. For example you may want to research why is the rate of heart disease so high in older women. How do you know that heart disease is the correct term to use? Below are two approaches to finding the most useful terms to use.
MeSH Terms or Medical Subject Headings are a standardized way of describing and indexing journal articles in the medical field. These terms help researchers label and find the most relevant research when searching databases.