Research Guides: Nurse Anesthesia: Tutorials and Guides

Library Website Tutorial

Take a moment to get acquainted with the Health Sciences Library's website through this tutorial:

Health Sciences Library Website Orientation for the College of Health Professions

Searching Principles

These video tutorials provide an overview of how to craft an efficient search. Remember, that it's always best to consult more than one database to ensure a thorough search.

Searching By Breaking the Question Into Concepts (4 min. 45 sec.)
Determine which concepts you will actually translate for the database.
Boolean Operators (4 min. 35 sec.)
See how to use Boolean Operators to describe the relationships between your concepts.
Coming Up With Alternative Terms (4 min. and 45 sec.)
Determine the possible synonyms that will describe your concepts for the database.
Use Controlled Vocabulary When Possible (9 min. 8 sec.)
When necessary, use the databases' "controlled vocabulary," which is comprised of terms selected by the database to describe concepts.
Searching with Keywords (10 min.)
Common language terms (known as keywords) can be used to cast a wide net of possible descriptors for a concept.
Google Scholar (4 min. 29 sec.)
Review these tips when using Google Scholar for your search.
Search Broad and Then Focus (4 min. 30 sec.)
Remember to keep your initial searching broad and narrow your results with discretion. This will help ensure you don't miss crucial articles by applying too many limits.

Citation Management

Citation Tools
Choose and use a citation tool to help you create, edit, and organize citations for your sources.
EBSCO Support: How to Use the Export Manager
Demonstration of features in EBSCO databases for saving citations and exporting collection to citation management software.
PubMed Online Training
Library of PubMed tutorials, including saving searches and setting up a MyNCBI account, PubMed's citation management tool.

Writing Resources

Writing a Literature Review
Research guide containing tips for writing a literature review health sciences research.
VCU Writing Center
VCU's Writing Center provides personalized help for your writing needs.
APA Format from Online Writing Lab
Purdue University's online writing guide to the APA format.

Additional Support

UpToDate Off-Campus Registration
See how to download and access UpToDate through your VCU eID.