For assistance with your research, contact:
Dean Giustini, UBC biomedical librarian E-mail: dean.giustini@ubc.ca
Here are some tutorials you can view after the library workshops (or before you meet with Dean):
JOURNALS - MEDICAL EDUCATION
ITEMS NOT HELD AT UBC LIBRARY
Search for research papers in these databases (for more ideas, see guides on medicine, medical education or education).
Planning your search / your research
Research frameworks aid in planning searches in the databases. First, think about key parts of your research question(s) and identify YOUR MAJOR terms first. (Put them in order of priority.)
PICO is often used as a framework but there are others that can be used in medical education. Use one of these worksheets to jot down ideas.
Consider keywords, phrases and subject headings that capture your research. How will you combine keywords, phrases and subject headings (AND, OR, NOT)? What kind of limits should apply (dates, study design, language)?
SEARCH w/ keywords AND subject headings for more systematic retrieval. Subject headings are given to each article by librarians and indexers to describe (or "analyze") their subject content. Indexers make errors so it is recommended you add unique keywords to your searches to locate relevant papers. Keyword searching is useful in locating recent papers as new topics are published. In searching by keyword, think of similar terms, synonyms, variant spellings (UK/US) and variant word endings.
Do some quick searching in databases to get an idea of keywords and subject headings that might apply to your topic. Look at citations of relevant articles to see how they were indexed ...and use that information to refine your search strategy.
Choosing databases
UBC Library provides access to hundreds of databases. For more ideas, try the UBC Library research guides.
Documents produced on all levels of government, academia, business and organization in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing i.e. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body (definition from Grey Lit Network Service). Examples: theses, dissertations, reports, conference proceedings, government reports, consensus guidelines and data.
A few suggestions:
Some databases track citations, and how many times an article has been cited by other scholars. This tracking is used to see how important an article is in the field, its influence and its contribution to the evidence in medical education.
To view upcoming workshops and to register for a session, visit the Library Workshops and Events Calendar. Individual consultation appointments are also, via the "Book a consultation" button on the Research Commons homepage.