USING UNC LIBRARY RESOURCES EFFECTIVELY

HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY RESOURCES

Health Sciences Library Home Page

Health Sciences Library Guides and Tutorials

NC Health Info
National Library of Medicine (NLM) site that connects NLM materials with NC resources.

USING MAIN LIBRARY RESOURCES

UNC Libraries Home Page

E-Journal Finder

SEARCHING MEDLINE VIA PUBMED

PubMed Home
Tip: Use PubMed through a UNC site to get more full-text articles through UNC Libraries.

PubMed Searching Basics (Tutorial) 

 -Using PubMed 
	Navigate PubMed's home page. 
	Use the menus to access PubMed services and resources. 
	Enter queries to search. 
	Understand and use Boolean operators. 
	Understand how PubMed optimizes your search strategy. 

 -Working with Search Results
	Understand the layout of the search results screen. 
	Change the display format of the retrieved citations. 
	Adjust the number of citations displayed on a page. 
	Move between pages of results. 
	Sort your results. 
	Save and view selected citations. 
	Print citations.

PubMed Online Training
Advanced searching techniques in PubMed 

 -Introduction to PubMed Services
	MeSH Database
	Journals Database
	Single Citation Matcher
	Clinical Queries

Using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) 

	Explode 
	Focus 
	Subheadings  

 -Boolean Logic

 -Limiting searches:
	Review articles
	Specific years
	Specific age groups
	Randomized Controlled Trials

 -Clinical and Special Queries

SEARCHING FOR SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS

Systematic review definition from AHRQ Glossary
A summary of the clinical literature. A systematic review is a critical assessment and evaluation of all research studies that address a particular clinical issue. The researchers use an organized method of locating, assembling, and evaluating a body of literature on a particular topic using a set of specific criteria. A systematic review typically includes a description of the findings of the collection of research studies. The systematic review may also include a quantitative pooling of data, called a meta-analysis. Example: Scientists collected all the published studies that compared types of treatment for prostate cancer that had not spread beyond the prostate gland. They compiled the results of these studies in a comparative effectiveness review, which is a type of systematic review.

PubMed Limits
Start with a basic search, and limit. Look at publication types, language, subsets, ages, etc.

Clinical Queries in PubMed
Finding "evidence-based medicine" references. 

 -Searching for Randomized Controlled Trials 
	Limiting by Publication Type
	Limiting with MeSH headings:
		Single-blind studies
		Double-blind studies
		Random Allocation
	Limiting for other study types:
	Epidemiologic Methods 
	Epidemiologic Study Characteristics 
		Epidemiologic Studies 
			Case-Control Studies
			Retrospective Studies
			Cohort Studies
			Longitudinal Studies
			Cross-Sectional Studies
			Seroepidemiologic Studies

The Cochrane Library
Cochrane and other systematic reviews, clinical trials, etc. The gold standard in evidence-based health care.

National Guidelines Clearinghouse
AHRQ's public resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines.

Back to Top