CINAHL

Conducting a literature search using controlled

vocabulary

Why use controlled vocabulary rather than basic (free text) searching?

CINAHL Headings are assigned to each record to describe the subject content of the record. They are applied consistently which means that once you have identified the correct CINAHL Heading(s) you do not need to think about synonyms, different word endings or alternative spellings.

For example, an article on stroke will have the subject heading stroke assigned to it even if the author of the article uses a synonym such as cva, cvas, cerebrovascular accident or cerebral vascular accident .

And…….

You tend to retrieve articles that are more relevant:

• Searching using the subject heading stroke will retrieve articles that are about the medical condition stroke. Free text searching will retrieve any article which has the word in the title or abstract, whether that is relevant to the subject of the article or not. They could also include references to articles about pet therapy (people who stroke animals are more relaxed) and references about swimming.

But……

…..subject headings are not infallible so to make sure you retrieve all relevant articles a combination of subject headings and free text is sometimes required.

This presentation will help you to:

•Create a search strategy

•Using the database CINAHL search for journal article references

•Understand Boolean Operators

•Mark and download relevant references

•Comprehensive database covering nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy

•Lists articles in over 900 English language journals

•Over 3 million records

•Data since 1982

•Available via the Library Web pages using your iSolutions username and password

CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursingand Allied Health Literature)

Bibliographic databases -what do they do?

•List the “bibliographic” details of journal articles – author and title of the article; journal title, volume, issue and pages.

•Mostly refer to journal articles, but some refer to newspapers, conference papers, book chapters or videos.

•They can be searched – much like WebCat.

But they are nationally or internationally produced so…..

They…

•Do not normally include the full text of the article itself.

•Do not indicate whether the journal is in the Library.

Library home page

www.soton.ac.uk/library

Select one of these links

Scroll down to see complete list

Search example:

Rehabilitation of young and middle-aged adults who have had knee replacement surgery

But before you start searching you need to spend some time thinking about your search…..

•Identify the concepts of your query

•List alternative phrases and keywords

•Include both narrow and broad terms

•Identify any key periods of research

•Identify any key authors in the field

Then start your search!

You need to:

Question, Concepts & Keywords

Rehabilitation of young and middle-aged adults who have had knee replacement surgery

Identify your search terms

Rehabilitation of young and middle-aged adults who have had knee replacement surgery

Identify alternatives

• rehabilitation •physiotherapy•occupational therapy

• Knee replacement surgery

• joint Replacement, Knee

• young and middle aged adults•adult •middle age

(you may not use all of the keywords/alternatives)

Join these terms together using:

Boolean logic

and

Truncation

Boolean Logic….

Allows you to search for multiple keywords

OR combines different expressions for the same concept

teenagers OR adolescents

AND links two different concepts together children AND communication

Truncation

Finds any keyword with a common stem

Truncation symbol is commonly *

Physiotherap* will find: physiotherapist physiotherapists physiotherapy

Our search strategy will be...

Knee replacement and Rehabilitation or Physiotherapy or Occupational therapy

1. Place tick here

2. Enter term and search

2. Check here to find more information about the term

1. Takes you to the suggested subject term Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee which is used for the term ‘knee replacement’

Placing a tick here opens up some more options….

2. Explode or Major Concept?

1. Subheadings

Subheadings

Subheadings allow a search to be restricted to one or more facets, such as diagnosis, therapy, or psychosocial aspects thereby providing more specific references.

Exploding

Exploding retrieves any articles that include the controlled term that you search for – plus all articles featuring narrower (more specific) terms which are below and to the right of your subject term.

Major Concept

When you select Major Concept for a term, you create a search query that finds only records for which the subject heading is a major focus of the article.

Standard controlled vocabulary search option

This search option will return results where your term is considered to be either a Minor and Major subject term so……

….if you want your search results to contain your subject where it is both a major and minor subject term then use….

…..this ‘search database link’

Looking at the structure behind helps to see how the database works . To do this……..

…..use this link to open up the ‘tree’ structure of the subject term

1. More specific areas within Surgery, Operative

2. More specific areas within Arthroscopy, replacement

1. Note that there is no option to explode this term this is because there is no + next to it.

2. Search

3. Enter next term then search

1. Results of first search

2. Tick box

1. Tick box

2. Search

Complete two more searches with the terms occupational therapy and physiotherapy (this will map you to the term Physical Therapy)

1. Combine searches 2, 3 & 4

together using or

Combine searches 1 and 5 using

and

2. To cut your search results down use the link to open up the Revise Search options (scroll down the screen to see them)

1. Results of final search

Refining (limiting) your search

You can choose limits such as:

• Date of publication

• Language

• Age Group/s

• Gender

• Publication type i.e. journal

• Journal subset i.e. English & Ireland journals

We will narrow our search:

1. By year of publication

2. By age groups (Adult 19-44 years & Middle Age 45-64 years)

Viewing, marking and saving references

Final result.To look at the references use this link or scroll down

See full details of the reference by using this link

3. Return to results link at the top of the page

1. Abstract

2. Subject terms added to this reference

1. If this full text link is present it will lead you straight to the article itself. If there is not one you will need to check on TDNet our electronic journals database

2. Then go to the folder at the top of the page

1. Add to folder those references you want to mark, page by page…..

1. Select references (again)

2. Choose your method of output

This is what your saved results will look like

Your search strategy/history will be In this attachment with the references below

Warning!

Don’t send your results to a work address outside of the University, i.e. an NHS email account as the firewall set up by other organisations will block any attachments.

Do we hold the journals in the library?

Using your list of references from your search check TDNet, the University of Southampton Libraries electronic journals management system.

TDNet contains details of the years covered by each e-journal and also gives a link to WebCat.

We will look for this reference on TDNet

Marshall S. Teasell R. Bayona N. Lippert C. Chundamala J. Villamere J. Mackie D. Cullen N. Bayley M. (2007) Motor impairment rehabilitation post acquired brain injury. Brain Injury. 21(2): 133-60.

Enter title of journal here then search

Link to e-journalChoose your title (there may be more than one option)

Years which are available electronically

Link to WebCat (Library Catalogue)

The PDF link is the best one to use

Print, download or email using these icons

Copying and Copyright

•You should assume that everything is subject to copyright law, unless this is clearly stated otherwise

•You should save, print or email only one copy of an article from an issue of a magazine or journal. In the case of a book, pamphlet or report, you should make single copies of not more than one chapter, or extracts amounting to no more than 5% of the entire work

• For more information see:• www.soton.ac.uk/library/about/regulations/

copyrightphotocopying. html

Citing References

•When literature searching:

• Record full details of reference

• Record how and when you found it

•When writing up:

• Link each reference to the correct place in the text

• Reference all sources that you use (and do not reference sources that you don’t use!)

• Follow the FoHS referencing guidelines

• Be consistent

Getting Help

• Subject Enquiries

Level 3, Hartley Library

• Or contact

Susan Dawson, Vicky Fenerty, Paula Sands or Dorothy Stratford via sohsenqs@soton.ac.uk