WHERE TO START SEARCHING See Tabs for Details
To search effectively for health information you may need to look in several different places:..not just google!
Health information on line can be varied in its availability, scope, accuracy and currency.
Specialist health websites help you to find reliable information easily - for example.
NICE Evidence ( https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/ ) TRIP ( https://www.tripdatabase.com/ )
NHS Choices ( http://www.nhs.uk/pages/home.aspx ) Patient UK ( https://patient.info/ )
PubMED ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed ) UpToDate ( http://www.uptodate.com/contents/search ) - RD&E staff :OpenAthens Login required -
Google may also be useful for example.
Google Scholar ( http://scholar.google.co.uk/ ) for papers Google Verbatim Exact un-enhanced search.
You might also like:
NHS Literature Searching Course Module 2 Where do I start searching?
NICE Evidence ( https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/ ) This is where the NHS would like its staff to look first
This provides 'access to selected and authoritative evidence in health, social care and public health'.
Pro: Full text often available. Reliable sources You can filter the results
Search: Use simple terms and then filter
Guide: General Information and user guide
HDAS: HDAS Journals and Databases (Athens password needed) HDAS Full User Guide
Other: Links to NICE pathways ( Nice Guidelines content as browsable flow diagrams ) BNF CKS
ScreenShot: Click to see webpage
TRIP ( https://www.tripdatabase.com/ )
This searches a selection of internet sites
Pro: Reliable sources You can filter the results
Search: Use simple terms and then filter. Advanced search also available with proximity settings too.
Guide: General Information and user guide videos
Other: You can Sign Up on an NHS computer to get Trip Pro for free under Health Education England's account.
Screenshot: Click to see webpage
NHS Choices ( http://www.nhs.uk/pages/home.aspx ) This is what the NHS would like its staff to show to patients
This provides access to reliable patient information presented in a structured and staged format
Pro: Reliable sources: Hundreds of Conditions Explained. Advice on Healthy Living .
Guides and support for Social Care
Search: Use simple terms
Guide: HelpDesk
Other: Look behind the headlines - comment on health news stories. Find Local Services
Interactive tools, smartphone apps and podcasts. Links Library to useful sites
Screenshot: Click to see webpage
Patient UK ( https://patient.info/ ) .
This provides reliable patient information together with advice for professionals
Pro: Health information on common complaints. Guides to Drug information.
Articles written by Health Professionals. Symptom Checker gives list of possible diagnoses.
Doctor-compiled Clinical Guidelines - including international ones DVLA & Calculators
Search: Use simple terms :
Guide: General Information
Other: See menu at bottom of page for browsing headings
Screenshot: Click to see webpage
Pubmed ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed ) .
This searches the MEDLINE database from the National Library of Medicine.
Pro: Sophisticated search facility for primary and secondary research Includes new articles that are not yet catalogued or published.
Automatic term mapping automatically enhances your search terms with Mesh Keywords
Options for saving selected results, finding similar articles and exporting to email of reference managing packages
Search: Use simple terms initially.
Complex search strings can be used. Filters on top left. Send to...for clipboard and exporting
Guide: Quick Start Guide and PubMed Tutorials on the front page
Other: Explore the front page!
Single Citation Matcher finds records if you have an incomplete reference. eg Smith A 1999 p34
Clinical Queries helps you find relevant studies eg Etiology of diabetic retinopathy in children
Topic-Specific Queries shows list of additional search limits eg to Nursing Journals only (at bottom of table)
Screenshot: Click to see webpage
UpToDate ( http://www.uptodate.com/contents/search ) - RD&E staff only: Log_in button- Use Open Athens link
or HUB / Non Clinical Systems / UptoDate
Uptodate provides quick answers to clinical questions at point of care
Pro: Authoritative fully referenced detailed review articles on wide range of clinical topic
Easy to search and navigate
Search: Use simple terms :
Guide: Quick Reference Card Online help demos and manual
Other: Graphics: Images and diagrams free to download to powerpoint
Patient information: 'Beyond the basics' for detailed background info for both savvy patients and clinicians.
Drug Interactions and Clinical calculators.
Screenshots: From Quick Reference Card: Click to see webpage
Google Scholar ( https://scholar.google.co.uk/ ) .
This looks for webpages that seem to be papers
Pro: Works very similarly to Google. Often gives relevant results with less focussed terms
Orders results by relevance or date.
Search: Use simple terms: then expand as in Google: 256 character limit
Guide: See file below
Other: Advanced search limits by date, title and author.
Good follow-on links to related articles, cited-by. 'Cite' gives references for essay text
Screenshot: Click to go to google scholar
How good is it? See King's College discussion on using Google Scholar for major reviews (Middle Column 4th box down)
Google ( https://google.co.uk/ ) .
Popular search engine
Pro: Quick. Easy to use...Versatile. Searches are often enhanced and extended automatically -but not always the way you want!
Will accept long search strings and can filter results to domain or document type etc
Guide: See file below
Other: Extended possibilities with other sections eg Maps, Images
Focusing searches: Eg Using
" " with single words to turn off synonyms. " " for phrases * for missing words
Site: to restrict to specific domains Filetype: to limit to particular file formats
Screenshot: Looking exclusively for Lymphoma and diagnosis in primary care on NHS sites in PDF format (Click to run search)
Use Chrome or Edge but not Internet Explorer
When using any links from our website pages (https://exeterhealthlibrary.net) or logging on to NHS Open Athens (https://openathens.nice.org.uk) to access journals please ensure that Chrome or Edge is selected as your browser of choice.
Internet Explorer will no longer be supported and all publishers have accordingly deprecated access so links will no longer work correctly.publishers have accordingly deprecated access so links will no longer work correctly.