Questions
•Who has conducted a major literature review
before?
•What information sources have you used?
•Who has used a citation manager?
Objectives
At the end of today’s session, you will be able
to:
1.Describe the steps involved in a literature
review
2.Access information sources on a wide variety
of subjects
3.Export references to RefWorks and use the
basic functions of the citation manager
Literature Reviews
What makes a good one?
7 tasks in a Literature Review
1.Select a question
2.Select a source (database, search engine, etc.)
3.Choose search terms
4.Run your search
5.Apply practical screening criteria
6.Apply methodological screening criteria
7.Synthesize the results
General Tips
•Choose a narrow research question
•Record your search strategy
•Aim to be “explicit, systematic and
reproducible”
1
•Use a citation manager
•Keep updated of new publications with email
alerts and RSS
1
Fink, A. (2005). Conducting Research Literature Reviews. London: Sage.
Sample Research Question
What is the impact of
educational technology on
the learning of gross anatomy
by medical students?
Turn your statement into a
strategy
1.Break your question into concepts
2.Identify subject headings for each concept
3.Identify keywords for each concept
•Tips:
–Use a “target article” to help identify search terms
–Use a strategy worksheet to keep track of your terms:
http://www.lib.uwo.ca/files/taylor/grad/Search_Strategy_Worksheet.pdf
What is the impact of educational technology on the
learning of gross anatomy by medical students?
Educational
Technology
Gross Anatomy Learning Medical Students
What is the impact of educational technology on the
learning of gross anatomy by medical students?
Educational
Technology
Gross Anatomy Learning Medical Students
Educational
Technology +
Anatomy + Learning + Students, Medical
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=mesh
+ = explode
What is the impact of educational technology on the
learning of gross anatomy by medical students?
Educational
Technology
Gross Anatomy Learning Medical Students
Educational
Technology +
Anatomy + Learning + Students, Medical
(education* or
instruction*) adj
technolog*.mp.
anatom*.mp. association.mp.medical
student*.mp.
audiovisual
aid*.mp.
emrbyology.mp.learn*.mp. MD student*.mp.
multimedia.mp.neuroanatom*.mp.memor*.mp.
video*.mp. problem solv*.mp.
Keywords selected with operators and commands for the Ovid search interface. For a
full list of operators and commands see:
http://content.library.utoronto.ca/gerstein/subjectguides/ovidmedline_shortcuts.pdf
Running your search(es)
•Start with your first concept
–Search for the subject headings first
–Then search keywords
–Combine these synonymous searches with OR
using your search history
•Repeat for your second, third, and subsequent
concepts
•Finally, combine large search results set with
AND
Running your search(es)
Search #2 =
Search #3 =
Search #4 =
Search #5 = #1 OR #2 OR #3 OR #4
Search #1 =
Concept 1
Search #6 =
Search #7 =
Search #8 =
Search #9 =
Concept 2
Search #10 = #6 OR #7 OR #8 OR #9
Search #11 = #5 AND #10
Results
Exercise
Using the MeSH database and your own
knowledge of the subject, complete a search
strategy to answer the research question:
Do video games enhance learning by medical
students?
BREAK
Choosing Sources
•Vary based on the subject
•Consult library program pages:
Anatomy:
www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/anatomy/
Computer Science:
www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/computerscience/
Education:
www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/educationgraduateprogram/
Engineering:
www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/electricalandcomputerengineering/
Consider “Grey Literature”
•Not published commercially or indexed by
major databases
Examples:
Conference proceedings & abstracts
Government documents
Research reports
Technical reports, standards, patents
Sources for Grey Lit
Conference Proceedings BIOSIS Previews, Engineering Village,
Inspec, SCOPUS
Government Documents Web search engines / Gov’t websites
Research Reports Institutional repositories / Web search
engines
Technical reports, Standards, PatentsIEEE, Google Patents, Canadian Patent
Database, European Patent Office, United
States Patents Databases
Question
Which sources would you search to find
information related to your exercise question?
Managing your References
RefWorks
How to Add Citations to RefWorks
1.Export directly from Databases
2.Use Ref-Grab-It to create a citation based on
a website
3.Manually create a citation
Getting Started
www.lib.uwo.ca
Make sure to
sign in if
you’re off
campus
Exercise
•Login to RefWorks or sign up for an
individual account - Tip: make sure to use
your UWO email address
•Once you have an account, create a new
folder called “Library Workshop”
Exercise
•Run your sample video game search in Ovid
Medline
•Export the citations to RefWorks
•Move them into your new folder
Write-n-cite
Formatted Bibliography
Summary
•A literature search is...
•Find sources by checking...
•MeSH stands for...
•Conference proceedings are an example of...
•A tool for creating citations from websites is...
•A tool for formatting your bibliography is...
•Assistance is available from...
Robin Featherstone [email protected]
Taylor Library, 60E
519 661-2111 ext 86383
By IM from www.lib.uwo.ca/programs/anatomy/
Skype: robinfeatherstone