Database in physiotherapy and the search

Sure, here's a brief description of databases and search engines:

### Databases

**Definition:**
A database is an organized collection of structured information or data, typically stored electronically in a computer system. Databases are managed by Database Management Systems (DBMS) which facilitate the creation, retrieval, updating, and management of data.

**Key Features:**
- **Structured Data Storage:** Databases use tables to store data in a structured format. Each table consists of rows and columns, where each column represents a data field and each row represents a record.
- **Query Language:** Most databases use a query language, such as SQL (Structured Query Language), to perform operations on the data, including searching, updating, and managing records.
- **Data Integrity:** Databases ensure data accuracy and consistency through various constraints and rules.
- **Scalability:** They can handle large volumes of data and support multiple users simultaneously.

**Examples:**
- **Relational Databases:** MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle
- **NoSQL Databases:** MongoDB, Cassandra, Redis

### Search Engines

**Definition:**
A search engine is a software system designed to search for information on the internet or within a specific dataset. It indexes content to make it searchable and returns relevant results based on user queries.

**Key Features:**
- **Indexing:** Search engines index web pages or documents to facilitate quick retrieval. This process involves crawling the web, parsing content, and storing it in a structured format.
- **Query Processing:** They interpret and process user queries to match them with indexed content, using algorithms to rank and display relevant results.
- **Ranking Algorithms:** Search engines use complex algorithms to rank results based on relevance, quality, and various other factors to ensure users receive the most pertinent information.
- **User Interface:** They provide a user-friendly interface for users to enter search queries and view results, often with features like autocomplete and search suggestions.

**Examples:**
- **Web Search Engines:** Google, Bing, Yahoo
- **Specialized Search Engines:** PubMed (for scientific articles), Elasticsearch (for enterprise search)

In summary, databases are used for storing and managing data efficiently, while search engines are designed to retrieve and rank information from large datasets or the web based on user queries.

1. Database

2. PEDro , the Physiotherapy Evidence Database PEDro has been designed to support the practice of evidence-based physiotherapy. It gives rapid access to the best research evaluating the effects of physiotherapy interventions. Only studies using the most rigorous research methods are indexed: randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. A unique feature of PEDro is that trials are independently assessed for quality using the PEDro scale. These quality ratings are used to quickly guide users to trials that are more likely to be valid and to contain sufficient information to guide practice.

3. PEDro has three search pages (Advanced, Simple and Consumer). We strongly encourage health professionals to use the Advanced Search, which contains 13 fields to define search terms with precision. For this reason, the SEARCH buttons in the header, footer and PEDro icon take you directly to the  Advanced Search  page. Those who are new to searching may like to begin with the  Simple Search , which contains a single text field. Patients and other users of physiotherapy can access the  Consumer Search , which has less technical language.

4. PEDro is produced by the  Institute for Musculoskeletal Health at the University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District  and is hosted by  Neuroscience Research Australia ( NeuRA ) .

5. Ovid The Ovid interface provides access to a range of databases, e-journals and e-books. The databases are particularly useful for identifying journal articles and other publications on a particular topic within the subject areas covered by each database. The examples in this guide are based on MEDLINE but each Ovid database has similar functionality.

6. databases are available through Ovid? AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine)  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. Contains references to articles on allied and alternative medicine. Many of the journals covered are not indexed by any other biomedical sources. EMBASE  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Comprehensive pharmacological and biomedical database renowned for extensive indexing of drug information. Emcare  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Covering all nursing specialties and nursing healthcare professions Emcare includes international coverage and includes unique content not found in other nursing and allied health databases including more than a thousand journals not covered by Embase. GEOBASE  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. Index of literature in the fields of physical and human geography, geology, oceanography, geomechanics, mineralogy, ecology and development studies. GeoRef  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Index of literature in the geosciences. See GeoRef InProcess for provisional content. GeoRef InProcess  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Records of the American Geological Institute's geoscience database that have not yet been indexed completely. These records will appear in GeoRef once they are indexed fully. Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HAPI)  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 5 users at a time. Index of articles on a wide variety of evaluation and measurement tools for health and psychosocial studies, for practitioners, educators, researchers, and students. HMIC (Health Management)  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. Guide to literature on health management and policy, with an emphasis on the UK National Health Service, but also including Europe (including Eastern Europe) and developing countries.

7. ICONDA  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 5 users at a time. Index of literature on all aspects of planning and building. International Pharmaceutical Abstracts  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 2 users at a time. IPA provides worldwide, comprehensive bibliographic coverage of pharmaceutical science and health related literature. SUBJECTS COVERED: Biopharmaceutics, Drug Therapy, Economics, Education, Ethics as Related to Pharmaceutical Science + Practice and Pharmacy Practice, Information Processing, Legislation, Regulation, Technology, Toxicity, Utilization. Maternity and Infant Care (MIDIRS)  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 2 users at a time. Resource for academics and healthcare professionals involved in the care of women and infants. Covers the midwifery profession, pregnancy, labour , birth, postnatal care, and neonatal care and the first year of an infants life. MEDLINE (Ovid version)  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Index of journal articles from the National Library of Medicine. Covers medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the preclinical sciences. Includes EPub Ahead of Print citations. PsycARTICLES  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. PsycARTICLES is a database of full-text articles from journals published by the American Psychological Association, the APA Educational Publishing Foundation, the Canadian Psychological Association, and Hogrefe Publishing Group. PsycEXTRA  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Database of "grey" literature relating to psychology, behavioral sciences, and health. Full-text is available for the majority of records. Coverage consists primarily of material written for professionals but disseminated outside of peer-reviewed journals. PsycINFO  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Index of literature in psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines. PsycTESTS  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. Focuses primarily on unpublished tests, developed by researchers but not made commercially available. Records link to materials describing the test in peer-reviewed literature, technical reports, or dissertations and related peer-reviewed literature describing test development, review, or use. Social Policy and Practice  See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to Ovid. This database can be accessed by no more than 4 users at a time. Abstracts of evidence-based social science research for policy-makers, practitioners, educators and students working within economic and social development, social administration, social services, and care management. Incorporates ChildData .

8. PUBMED PubMed is a free resource supporting the search and retrieval of biomedical and life sciences literature with the aim of improving health–both globally and personally. The PubMed database contains more than 37 million citations and abstracts of biomedical literature. It does not include full text journal articles; however, links to the full text are often present when available from other sources, such as the publisher's website or  PubMed Central (PMC) . Available to the public online since 1996, PubMed was developed and is maintained by the  National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) , at the  U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) , located at the  National Institutes of Health (NIH) .

9. Citations in PubMed primarily stem from the biomedicine and health fields, and related disciplines such as life sciences, behavioral sciences, chemical sciences, and bioengineering. PubMed facilitates searching across several NLM literature resources: MEDLINE MEDLINE  is the largest component of PubMed and consists primarily of citations from journals selected for MEDLINE; articles indexed with MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) and curated with funding, genetic, chemical and other metadata. PubMed Central (PMC) Citations for  PubMed Central (PMC)  articles make up the second largest component of PubMed. PMC is a full text archive that includes articles from journals reviewed and selected by NLM for archiving (current and historical), as well as individual articles collected for archiving in compliance with funder policies Bookshelf The final component of PubMed is citations for books and some individual chapters available on  Bookshelf . Bookshelf is a full text archive of books, reports, databases, and other documents related to biomedical, health, and life sciences.

10. Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes peer-reviewed online academic journals and books, conference papers, theses and dissertations, preprints, abstracts, technical reports, and other scholarly literature, including court opinions and patents. Google Scholar uses a web crawler, or web robot, to identify files for inclusion in the search results. For content to be indexed in Google Scholar, it must meet certain specified criteria. An earlier statistical estimate published in PLOS One using a mark and recapture method estimated approximately 79–90% coverage of all articles published in English with an estimate of 100 million. This estimate also determined how many online documents were available. Google Scholar has been criticized for not vetting journals and for including predatory journals in its index.