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Pharmacy

Searching for Quality Information: using Discovery and the online databases

Finding Quality Information Part 1_Searching Discovery

Part 1 of this video series looks at how to search for quality information using Discovery.

It covers the basics of searching and using Discovery to create a basic and advanced search. The advice given and the searching techniques can be applied to any health topic/discipline. 

Video Presentation - Part 1:

Click on the link to watch a video on searching and using the Discovery search engine

The slides which are used during this video presentation are below.

Finding Quality Information Part 2_Searching the Online Databases

Part 2 of this video series looks at searching for quality information in the subject databases. It covers advanced and structured searching in the online health databases. The advice given and the searching techniques can be applied to any health topic/discipline. 

If you haven’t already done so, you might also find it useful to watch part 1 which looks at the basics of searching and using Discovery.

Please note: The library homepage has been updated since this video was recorded and the skills guides mentioned in the video can now be found here: https://libguides.tees.ac.uk/learninghub?b=s&group_id=6925

Video Presentation - Part 2:

Click on the link to watch a video on searching and using the online subject databases

The slides which are used during this video presentation are below.

Journal Articles

What are journals?

Journals

They are:

  • like magazines but of a scholarly nature
  • published at regular intervals with no predetermined end
  • contain articles on a variety of topics
  • the articles are written by different authors
  • sometimes they also contain reviews and other information
  • in printed and electronic formats

Why Should I use them?

  • journal time is much quicker than for a book
  • using information from journals will keep you up to date and informed of new developments in your subject
  • journals articles are more specific than books.  They give you more detailed information in a more scholarly and concise format
  • subject may not yet (or may never) be covered in books
  • quality research - academic reputation - peer reviewed.

What does peer reviewed mean?

  • Written by an academic, who is a specialist in the subject
  • Submitted to an editor, who then passes the work to other professionals or 'peers' for a critiques, the work is then passed back to the original writer for changes to be made before being published
  • Longer articles, heavily text based
  • Charts, tables, statistics and images
  • Properly referenced with a list of references at the end of the article.

Help - journal articles

The following guides will help you to develop your skills in finding journal articles:

Finding Journals

Critical thinking - what it is and why it matters.

Doing a Literature Search

Developing Keywords

Subjects: Life Sciences