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UGS 302: MEDS FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS - Castleberry

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Find Articles on a Topic

 

 

What do you need? Start here
Background information 

Encyclopedias - Start with Gale eBooks 

Drug information - AccessPharmacy (links below)

Scholarly Articles on a topic

See suggested databases below. 

Use keywords to search in databases

The libraries pay to have access to these databases. 

 

A specific article you have the citation for

1. Search for the article title in the main search bar on the library homepage. Look for it under articles and more

2. If you don't find it, try to search for the journal title and look under journals under results. See if we have the journal for the year you need.

3. Use chat for help. 

Learn more about databases with the video in the right column.

See search examples on the second tab in this box, "Keywords and Database Searching"

Start with your drug name, and then add in a symptom or disease it might treat. You might also try searching by a group of drugs, for example using antibiotics instead of a particular antibiotic.

Searching databases is different than searching Google. Distil what you're looking for into a few key terms or phrases, rather than whole sentences. 

  1. insomnia be helped by OTC products, does this have an impact on X (or is it more effective than X)?
  2. For each main concept, brainstorm a few synonyms and related terms (broader or narrower) that get at that concept:

    • Key Concepts 

      		 Insomnia Over the Counter Products Aspect (x)
      Related Terms

      Chronic Insomnia

      Acute Insomnia

      Primary Insomnia

      Comorbid Insomnia

       

      Melatonin

      Tryptophan

      Valerian Tea

      Stress 

      Mental Health

      Diet

      Physical activity

      depression

      anxiety

      PTSD
  3. Combine key terms using AND and OR:​​
    • ​AND narrows your search by looking for articles with all of the words (your two or three key concepts should be connected with AND, because you need all of them represented in useful articles). 
    • OR broadens your search by looking for articles with any of the words (synonyms and related terms should be separated by OR - they get at the same key concepts, so any of them are useful).
  4. Try different combinations of your keywords to get better results as you search:

​ 

Databases and Web Resources for your Class

Drug basics

Multidisciplinary databases - use to find your scholarly article

Health-specific databases

Google Search Tips:

  • Search only a specific site (ex: nih.gov) or domain (ex: .edu or .gov) by typing in your search followed by site:.org, site:.gov (ex: “dxm abuse” site:nih.gov)
  • Search for an exact phrase by putting your search terms in quotation marks (ex: “over the counter”)

Ask a Librarian

Chat With Us

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What are databases?

This video, from RMIT University, explains what a database is...

Where's the Article?

If you don’t see a .pdf of the article you want, click FIND IT AT UT to find it in another database or in print in the Libraries.

If it is only in print in the Libraries or we don’t own the article, click GET A SCAN to have the article emailed to you. This option will take a few days.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Generic License.