PBL Library Resources: Searching Tips

You've found a website with information that looks good, but is it?  Click on the links below for tips to use to evaluate that website.

• North Central University Website Evaluation Guide
• Georgetown University Internet Source Evaluation Guide

Did you know that in PubMed you can:

 Use Filters to:

Specify the type(s) of articles retrieved (e.g., Clinical Trials, Case Studies, Reviews)

Specify age groups (e.g., 6-12 year olds, 19-44 year olds, 80 & over, and more)

Specify human or animal studies

Specify the language of the article

Limit resources to specific topics, like Bioethics

Use Clinical Queries to:

Find systematic reviews

Use preformatted filters for evidence-based searching

Target articles on medical genetics

 Want more info?    Find tutorials and hints at the National Library of Medicine at the links below:

• NLM PubMed Tutorials 
• NLM User Guide on PubMed 

Ask your Librarian 

General Tips

•  What are you seeking?
  • disease information (diagnosis, treatment, prognosis), differential diagnosis (symptom, lab result), drug or alternative medicine, common calculations, lab values, evidence based recommendation, or patient education materials?
•   Where will you start your search?  
  • Begin with the disease, treatment, test, or symptom. 
  • Don’t abbreviate &  use correct spelling (not all resources offer a spell checker)
•  Identify what type of question you are asking –
  • Background questions
    • When you need quick factual information or recommendations for care
    • Ask background questions in clinical resources  
• • Foreground questions
    • When you need research journal articles because there are no guidelines for care
    • Ask foreground questions using PubMed or Ovid MEDLINE clinical queries
• Ask answerable questions –   PICO FORMAT –
  • P=Population/Problem  
  • I=Intervention
  • C=Comparison (there may not always be a comparison)
  • O=Outcome
  • (may also have T=Time and/or type of test)