Nursing 103 - Freshman Seminar
Fall 2006

Library Instruction Program - Research and Instructional Support
For more information about this topic contact Mary Boulanger

Table of Contents

  1. Tips and Strategies for Research
  2. Library Research Assistance
  3. Finding Life and Health Sciences Information
    1. Library catalog [PantherCat]
    2. Indexes and Databases
    3. Life and Health Sciences Related Internet Resources
  4. Using the Web Wisely

Tips and Strategies for Research

Constructing a Search

For example: What ethical questions are raised by embryonic stem cell research?

Sample searches:   embryo and stem cell and ethics                  embryonic stem cells and morality

Which to use: Catalog or Database?


Library Research Assistance

Proxy Server
This link allows UWM students, faculty, and staff with Internet access to connect to most of the Libraries' subscription databases and electronic journals from home (a few titles are licensed for on-campus or in-library use only).
AskaLibrarian
An email and chat service, AskaLibrarian provides a forum for questions at all hours. Check this web page for the various formats.
Electronic Reserve
E-reserve materials generally consist of scanned journal articles, book chapters, lecture notes, and sample exams. These printable materials may be accessed from off-campus computers using the proxy server [see above].
InterLibrary Loan
When materials cannot be found at the UWM Libraries, use this link to pursue the many options available.
Research Consultation
This is an in-depth advisory service about specific library research processes offered by librarians of the RIS Department to the students, staff and faculty of UWM. Use this link to find out more or to request an appointment.

Finding Life and Health Sciences Information

The Library Catalog

PantherCat
Truncation symbol is ?    For example work? searches work, works, working, worked...
Types of searches include, title, author, keyword (and, or not). Use this guide for more tips in searching PantherCat.

Sample Search [using Keywords (and, or, not)]:   "family stress" and work?

Selected Indexes and Databases

On the UWM Libraries home page under "Find Articles", the Databases A-Z link leads to an alphabetical list of databases. Some index journals, magazines and newspapers from various subject disciplines. Others are collections containing the electronic full text of such journals. The ones listed below relate to the Life Sciences. They each have online guides.

Academic Search
1984-present; indexes over 3,400 scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers in the areas of business, social sciences, humanities, general academic, general science, education, and multi-cultural studies. Full-text is available for 2,000 journals starting with January 1985. Guide
CINAHL Plus with Full Text [Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature] Tutorial
Dates vary; CINAHL Plus with Full Text provides indexing for over 3,000 journals from the fields of nursing and allied health, with indexing back to 1937. CINAHL Plus with Full Text also contains searchable cited references for more than 1,155 journals and provides full text for hundreds of journals, plus legal cases, clinical innovations, critical paths, drug records, research instruments and clinical trials. PDF backfiles to 1937 are also included. Guide
MEDLINE via PubMed FREE ACCESS
MEDLINE via EBSCOHost
1950-present; indexes over 4,800 journals in medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine and the preclinical sciences. PubMed is the National Library of Medicine's search service that provides access to over 14 million citations in MEDLINE, and other related databases, with links to participating online journals. Guide | Tutorial


Life and Health Sciences Related Internet Resources

There are many places to get life and health Sciences information on the Internet. Deciding what is reliable, however, is a critical distinction in the health fields. The following resources offer a sampling of critiqued web sites.

Life and Health/Biological Sciences Subject Guide
One of over one hundred subject guides created by UWM Libraries staff, the Life and Health/BiologicalSciences guide lists indexes, databases, other research guides, and selected web sites in various biological sciences, medicine, nursing, and other health fields.

Health Careers Information Center
Produced by the Wisconsin Area Health Education Center, this site has information on over 60 healthcare occupations, professional organizations, Wisconsin educational institutions which teach health careers, government agencies and health career programs in Wisconsin and nationally.

Selected Health Related Internet Sites
This guide gives a sampling of various aspects of medicine and the health professions as reflected on the Internet. These include search engines, guides to medical specialties and general medical sites, nursing, health and disease topics, government resources, electronic journals and indexes in the health sciences. It is maintained by UWM Libraries staff.


Using the Web Wisely

Though not specifically related to the health fields, the first three resources are Subject Directories to web sites evaluated by people (as opposed to "selected" by a search engines's web crawler). The other sites listed give some general guidelines to evaluating and citing web sites.

Librarians' Index to the Internet
Search by keyword or look through the directory - keyword can lead to directory sections to search further

Internet Scout Report
Subject directory maintained by UW Madison

Infomine - Scholarly Index Resource Collections
Contains over 20,000 well-selected and described links to scholarly resources on the Internet. Searchable. 

How to evaluate and cite Web Sites

Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask (from University of California Berkeley Library)

Citing Web sites  (from Bedford / St. Martin's)