Step 2: Acquire the Evidence
Where do you start your search? To identify the sources of your search, you need to consider those that are reputable and relevant to your question (Lou & Durando, 2008)[10]. There are many sources for this step. To name just a few, systematic reviews, peer-reviewed journals, referenced articles, electronic bibliographic databases, and the WorldWideWeb (WWW) are good places to start a search. Databases have a wealth of information that includes published research, scholarly articles, article abstracts, books, government reports, newspaper articles, dissertations, and much more. The WWW does not have quality control and should be considered with caution. Searches on the web are best limited to government, university, and professional association locations, easily found on Google Scholar.
Finding evidence can be a daunting process if not undertaken systematically. Please follow the links below to ease this process. Just a reminder- the “well-built question” will lead you to a direct relevant search.
DATABASES
Consider the following Therapy Specific Databases:
American Occupational Therapy Journal at http://www.aota.org is available electronically. There are free articles available, if you are not a member. Recommended by Lou and Durando (2008)[10]:
Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information & Exchange (CIRRIE) at http://cirrie.buffalo.edu is located at UB and facilitates the exchange of rehabilitation information and research between the United States and other countries. This site offers bibliographic database information about research published outside the US. This is a free site.
Highly used Broader databases (that include therapy resources):
HUBNET is a collection of databases:
SEARCH PROCESS
HUBNET will be your access to the databases. You will need to create a username and password for free access to articles. If you work for the Visiting Nurses Association, choose a Kaleida hospital as your affiliation when filling out your information for library access. If you are a University of Buffalo student, you have access to the UB Library.
Click on the link to HUBNET to sign up for database access.[19] http://hubnet.buffalo.edu/bin/main.cgi
Sign up. You now have a good list of databases to choose from for your search to answer your “well built question”. You are almost ready to explore these databases.
How do you go about an effective and efficient literature search using search terms that will narrow your search? There are many tutorials on how to develop a search strategy. You will find a few on the resource page of this website. When you are ready check them out.
At this juncture of beginning the search you will want to ask yourself these questions :
Overall you will be searching for evidence in systematic reviews and individual research articles. A systematic review is a literature review that has the potential to provide you with valuable evidence. This type of review covers an extensive number of high quality studies that are selected around a focused question to determine the study outcomes related to the question. For example, if you read a systematic review related to the PICO question about CIMT and UE functional recovery the review would reveal information about all of the high quality, randomized control trials that are published in regard to this question. Therefore, the review saves you effort and time spent reviewing each of these articles yourself. If you are able to use a systematic review to answer your question you will save time in your literature search.
Unlike a systematic review, an individual research article involves a single study trial and may not be of the quality reported in systematic reviews. Having said this, you may find there isn’t an available systematic review for your PICO question. In these circumstances you will be searching for individual articles in the above databases.
When searching for systematic reviews, in addition to the databases, you may want to visit:
Watch the following valuable videos that will take you through the critical search term process in acquiring the evidence.
[29] How to Use the PICO Question to Formulate Your Search (Part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypYkaKnn8_4&feature=youtu.be
[30] How to Turn Search Terms into Search Strategy (Part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yho7_7zCOnA&feature=youtu.be
[31] How to turn search strategy into results (Part 3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdff8AL5PGY&feature=youtu.be
There are further web resources listed under acquiring the evidence that you may want to spend more time reviewing. When you are ready, we’ll look at what the search has revealed…Appraising the Evidence
Where do you start your search? To identify the sources of your search, you need to consider those that are reputable and relevant to your question (Lou & Durando, 2008)[10]. There are many sources for this step. To name just a few, systematic reviews, peer-reviewed journals, referenced articles, electronic bibliographic databases, and the WorldWideWeb (WWW) are good places to start a search. Databases have a wealth of information that includes published research, scholarly articles, article abstracts, books, government reports, newspaper articles, dissertations, and much more. The WWW does not have quality control and should be considered with caution. Searches on the web are best limited to government, university, and professional association locations, easily found on Google Scholar.
Finding evidence can be a daunting process if not undertaken systematically. Please follow the links below to ease this process. Just a reminder- the “well-built question” will lead you to a direct relevant search.
DATABASES
Consider the following Therapy Specific Databases:
American Occupational Therapy Journal at http://www.aota.org is available electronically. There are free articles available, if you are not a member. Recommended by Lou and Durando (2008)[10]:
Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information & Exchange (CIRRIE) at http://cirrie.buffalo.edu is located at UB and facilitates the exchange of rehabilitation information and research between the United States and other countries. This site offers bibliographic database information about research published outside the US. This is a free site.
- OT CATS (Occupational Therapy Critically Appraised Topics) at www.otcats.com reports brief reviews of articles peer reviewed by the site developer only. This is freely available.
- OT Seeker (Occupational Therapy Systematic Evaluator of Evidence) at http://www.otseeker.com consists of abstracts about randomized control trials and systematic reviews relevant to OT. This is a free site.
- Physiotherapy Evidence Database also known as PEDro at http://www.pedro.org.au is a large site reporting physical therapy randomized control trials and systematic reviews.
- RehabDATA at http://www.naric.com/research is managed by the National Rehabilitation Information Center in Maryland. At this site you will find 70,000 abstracts from research, reports, audiovisual materials, and books associated with rehabilitation and disability research. This is a free site.
Highly used Broader databases (that include therapy resources):
HUBNET is a collection of databases:
- CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing& Allied Health)
- COCHRANE Library is a high quality and respected source of four databases. These databases include systematic reviews and randomized control trials. These reviews are provided to the public. It is here rehabilitation outcomes are reported to the public.
- MEDLINE (US National Library of Medicine)
- OVID provides research output from databases related to health and life sciences
- PSYCINFO provides abstracts and citations to articles related to psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences.
- You will find HUBNET at Kaleida Health Online Library that is available to you.
SEARCH PROCESS
HUBNET will be your access to the databases. You will need to create a username and password for free access to articles. If you work for the Visiting Nurses Association, choose a Kaleida hospital as your affiliation when filling out your information for library access. If you are a University of Buffalo student, you have access to the UB Library.
Click on the link to HUBNET to sign up for database access.[19] http://hubnet.buffalo.edu/bin/main.cgi
Sign up. You now have a good list of databases to choose from for your search to answer your “well built question”. You are almost ready to explore these databases.
How do you go about an effective and efficient literature search using search terms that will narrow your search? There are many tutorials on how to develop a search strategy. You will find a few on the resource page of this website. When you are ready check them out.
At this juncture of beginning the search you will want to ask yourself these questions :
- How many years do you want to include in your literature? Do you want to go
back 5 years? - What type of journals do you seek information from?
- Do you want articles in print from the library or online in full text?
- What type of articles are you interested in?
Overall you will be searching for evidence in systematic reviews and individual research articles. A systematic review is a literature review that has the potential to provide you with valuable evidence. This type of review covers an extensive number of high quality studies that are selected around a focused question to determine the study outcomes related to the question. For example, if you read a systematic review related to the PICO question about CIMT and UE functional recovery the review would reveal information about all of the high quality, randomized control trials that are published in regard to this question. Therefore, the review saves you effort and time spent reviewing each of these articles yourself. If you are able to use a systematic review to answer your question you will save time in your literature search.
Unlike a systematic review, an individual research article involves a single study trial and may not be of the quality reported in systematic reviews. Having said this, you may find there isn’t an available systematic review for your PICO question. In these circumstances you will be searching for individual articles in the above databases.
When searching for systematic reviews, in addition to the databases, you may want to visit:
- Cochrane Collaboration
- Campbell Collaboration
Watch the following valuable videos that will take you through the critical search term process in acquiring the evidence.
[29] How to Use the PICO Question to Formulate Your Search (Part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypYkaKnn8_4&feature=youtu.be
[30] How to Turn Search Terms into Search Strategy (Part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yho7_7zCOnA&feature=youtu.be
[31] How to turn search strategy into results (Part 3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdff8AL5PGY&feature=youtu.be
There are further web resources listed under acquiring the evidence that you may want to spend more time reviewing. When you are ready, we’ll look at what the search has revealed…Appraising the Evidence
