This page provides information on accessing the resources the library has in its collection. For help using specific resources or planning and performing your research, please contact a librarian.
When performing a literature search, a focused research question will help you narrow your search strategies. Developing a solid research question is a good start to search, but keep in mind that your search strategy may still need to be modified to find the best evidence to answer your question. In health sciences, particularly when searching for evidence-based resources, you should frame your question as a PICO question.
PICO stands for
You may see this question written as a PICO(T) question, in which case the T stands for Time (your timeline or amount of time).
Click on the worksheets below to see examples of how to set up your PICO question and to plan your PICO question.
Discover is the library search tool that searches across databases, electronic books, and print books at the same time. This is a great place to start when you aren't sure which subject-specific database is right for you, when you are doing interdisciplinary research, or when you have finished searching subject-specific databases and want to see if you missed anything.
This tutorial explains the difference between using subject headings and keywords. Many databases have the ability to search some specialized subject headings (i.e. MeSH) in addition to a keyword search. This video can help you decide which method to use.
