Getting Started in the LibraryThis library guide points you in the direction of some basic library resources for completing library assignments and writing research papers in this course. Many of these resources are available from the library's homepage at http://www.lib.ipfw.edu/, so you may want to bookmark both the homepage and this guide.
Here are some resources to get you started:
Finding and Evaluating Nursing-Related Web SitesGoogle is useful for finding Web sites. Check out Google's Cheat Sheet for tips on using Google more effectively. The library also has guides and tutorials to help you navigate the Web.
When deciding what words to use for searching, consider checking a medical dictionary, text, or reference. Call numbers beginning with RT are a good place to start browsing to find books about nursing. However, nursing is very interdisciplinary, so books throughout the Rs could prove useful for medical topics, H for sociological topics, and GN for cultural information. To find a book using IUCAT Catalog (Indiana University's online library catalog) about nursing trends or cultural diversity, the following terms are useful. For books about nursing trends: nursing trends, nursing practice, nursing social aspects.
For books about cultural diversity in nursing: transcultural nursing, transcultural medical care, intercultural communication.
For books about various cultures: ethnology, manners and customs.
To properly evaluate your Web site, the following tools may be helpful. Is Your Web Site Credible?
10 Things to Know About Evaluating Medical Resources on the Web, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Critical Evaluation Worksheet, Evidence-Based Practice Tools (PDF)
Gaining an OverviewTo develop and refine your search, it often helps to consult a specialized dictionary, encyclopedia, handbook, textbook, guide, or bibliography. These tools are designed to offer an overview of your topic or research problem written by an expert. They may provide an historical perspective, a chronology of events, definitions of terms or concepts, or bibliographic references leading to the literature in a particular field of study. Many useful reference works are now available online. These handy e-reference collections are accessible via Find Resources By... Subject, Title, or Type on the library's homepage.
Searching IUCAT for Books and PeriodicalsSearch IUCAT Catalog (Indiana University's online library catalog), to find books and periodicals (scholarly journals, popular magazines, newspapers, and other serials), or library materials such as music CDs, electronic resources, and videos. Materials at the Fort Wayne Helmke Library are designated by the library location FORTWAYNE.
IUCAT searches from on-campus computers will show only materials held by the IPFW Fort Wayne Helmke Library. To search all IU libraries, choose ALL from the Select Library pull-down menu on the search screen.
Sometimes IUCAT will lead you to articles in periodicals, but the most efficient way to locate articles is to use a periodical database or index to search many periodicals simultaneously.
Keyword Search ExamplesKeywords Anywhere will search for words anywhere in a record. This search is the default when the Enter key is used instead of clicking the button.
Example: bioethics or medical ethics
Example: florence nightingale (finds works by and about florence nightingale)
Author will search for first or last names in any order in the author fields of a record. Included are personal names, organizations, agencies, corporations, conferences, etc.
Example: madeleine leininger (as a keyword search, yields the same results as typing leininger madeleine)
Example: Sigma Theta Tau
Example: National Center for Health Statistics
Title will search for important words in the title. Do not use initial articles: a, the, la, das, etc.
Example: transcultural communication in healthcare
Example: nursing today transition and trends
Subject will search for important words in the official Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH).
Example: nursing and trends
Example: transcultural nursing
Example: transcultural medical care
Locating Books and Periodicals in the LibraryBooks, printed periodicals, and other library materials are shelved in Library of Congress Classification (LC) call number order. The call number and IUCAT Shelving Locations will help you determine on which floor of the library an item will be shelved.
Searching for Periodical ArticlesThe most efficient way of finding a high-quality periodical article , is to search a periodical database or index that provides descriptive abstracts, subject indexing, and often, the full-text content of articles. Check out the interactive Finding Articles Tutorial to learn the basics of choosing and searching the Academic Search Premier database. Below is a selection of databases useful for your course. For a complete list, see the library's Find Resources By... page. Select a resource by Subject, Title, or Type (choose Abstracts & Indexes).
Databases for this Course
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature) (Ovid)
Content: | Provides monthly updated indexing of 1,200 English-language nursing journals, publications from the American Nurses' Association and the National League of Nursing, and primary journals from allied health disciplines, including consumer health, biomedicine, and health sciences librarianship, covering 1982 to present. Most articles include abstracts, and some also provide full text with graphics. CINAHL also provides access to healthcare books, nursing dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of professional practice, educational software and audiovisual materials in nursing. An online guide is available. For more details about CINAHL, select the information symbol  from the database selection screen. |
Access: | Database available to authorized IPFW users (on or off campus). IPFW library owns the printed index 1956-1997 (Reference Z6675 .N7 C8). IU Libraries' license allows 25 simultaneous users systemwide. |
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Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost)
Content: | Provides abstracts and indexing of articles in nearly 8,000 popular magazines, scholarly journals, and major newspapers, updated daily, in a wide range of fields including business, education, science and technology, health sciences, humanities, and social sciences, with nearly 4,000 titles available full text. Limit to scholarly, peer-reviewed articles or full-text articles only, if desired. Indexing coverage varies, with full-text content for some titles beginning 1975 or earlier, and most titles indexed from the 1990s. A complete list of titles covered is available. |
Access: | Database available to authorized IPFW users (on or off campus). Database available to authorized IPFW users (on or off campus). Other Indiana residents with an Internet service provider not based in Indiana (AOL, MSN, EarthLink, etc.) must first register for an INSPIRE password account. |
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Medline (Ovid)
Content: | Produced by the National Library of Medicine, Medline indexes over 3,500 national and international journals covering all areas of medicine, 1966 to present. Most records include abstracts. Many titles include full text and graphics. New articles are stored in MEDLINE(R) In-Process & Other Indexed Citations and are added to Medline on a weekly basis when they have been indexed with MeSH headings. OLDMEDLINE contains records from 1950 to 1965. |
Access: | Database available to authorized IPFW users (on or off campus). |
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Search Tips for Medline and CINAHLBoth CINAHL and Medline are great databases to use for finding nursing and other allied health articles, but generally, using the correct MeSH (medical subject heading) term in Medline or CINAHL term in CINAHL is key. When using the Ovid interface, remember to keep the "Map term to subject heading" box checked. Doing this will help you discover the correct MeSH or CINAHL term to use for your subject. If an index term does not exist for your subject, you can search it as a keyword (look for the check box at the bottom of the list of possible terms).
"Explode" is useful in most searches because it includes articles with subheadings to the term you are interested in. "Focus" will result in articles that have your term as the major subject of the article. Using both explode and focus will result in articles that have the main term as the major subject of the article with or without subheadings attached. Either function can be performed by checking the appropriate box by your term and then selecting "Continue" at the top of the screen while searching in Ovid.
In Ovid, the $ is the symbol to use for unlimited truncation. For example, nurs$ would return results with nurse, nurses, nursery, and nursing.
Is Your Article Scholarly or Popular?University instructors often ask students to use articles from scholarly journals rather than from popular magazines for their research assignments. The following Is Your Journal Scholarly? (PDF) summarizes major differences between scholarly journals and popular magazines. Which type of source have you located?
What about Full Text?Full text means that the text of the article is available in PDF or HTML digital format. Graphics and tables are not automatically included unless the database producer has rights to publish them. Many of the library's licensed databases offer the full-text content of periodical articles. IPFW students, faculty, and staff now have access to more than 20,000 full-text journals. Find them in E-Journal Finder.
When an article you need is not available full text in the database you are using, choose  to see all of your delivery options. You may be able to access the full-text content in another database, request the article from another library through Document Delivery Services, or make a photocopy of the article if the printed periodical is owned by Helmke Library.
When a Resource is Not Available in the LibraryRequest Delivery is an IUCAT feature that allows IPFW faculty, students, and staff to request materials held by other Indiana University Libraries and to have them delivered to Helmke Library (see the IUCAT Request Delivery Fact Sheet).
You may also request any item that is not available at Helmke Library through Document Delivery Services (DDS). DDS borrows books and provides photocopies of periodical articles from other library collections. The service is free for IPFW faculty, staff, and students.
Selected Cross-Cultural Healthcare and Nursing Issues Web SitesCulturedMed This site, maintained by the State University of New York Institute of Technology's Peter J. Cayan Library, contains links and bibliographies related to culturally competent healthcare.
DiversityRx This Web site provides links to legal and legislative policies related to cross-cultural healthcare.
EthnoMed Though this site is focused on immigrants to the Seattle area, information contained in it is pertinent to all of the United States.
National League for Nursing Select "About NLN" to find a link to position statements from the NLN. These will illustrate some current issues in the nursing profession.
American Nurses Association On this Web site, you will find a link to nursing issues and trends to explore.
And Finally, Ask a LibrarianLibrarians and skilled information assistants are always available to assist you. Visit the Service Desk to meet an information assistant who will help you get started. You are welcome to make an appointment with Your Subject Librarian if you need more in-depth assistance.
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schultes@ipfw.edu
2101 E. Coliseum Blvd.
Fort Wayne, IN 46805-1499
260-481-6502
Fax: 260-481-6509
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Stephanie J. Schulte M.L.I.S.
Reference & Information Services Librarian; Liaison to Biology, Chemistry, Consumer & Family Sciences, Dental Education, and Nursing; Science and Technology Information Center Coordinator
Helmke Library, LB 157 |
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