On college webpage at http://www.ait.ie/
Click on Library on right under quick links
Click: E resources (upper right) and then on Online Databases
Main Science databases include the EBSCO databases (CINAHL, Academic Search, AMED, SocINDEX) and HEALTH RESEARCH premier, also the Science Direct Database; and free databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar.
EBSCO is made up of sub databases; CINAHL, AMED, Academic Search, and Medline, and SocIndex
Summon is not a database but a search engine which searches across different databases however the searching principles are the same:
• Decide on keywords, which cover all or part of the meaning of your research.
• Initially select 2 or 3 words which together sum up the meaning of the essay (or part) and use these in separate search boxes
• When selecting keywords start simply; use two or three simple key words or phrases; then you can adjust the search depending on the number of results.
• In EBSCO, Google scholar (best searched on campus as it links to college databases), and Summon you can put key phases in inverted commas such as “student nurse” or “communication barriers”; this will ensure that the phrase, rather than the separate words are searched.
• If you get a lot of results make the search more specific by adding another keyword or by changing the search parameters to TITLE or ABSTRACT.
• After the preliminary search type you should expand your keywords. Eventually you may have 10 or more different keywords that you can try in combination of 2 to 3 at a time in the different databases. Remember different keywords will give optimum results in different databases.
• Look at the keywords or subject terms in relevant articles in your results (these are usually listed in the result summaries under the title) and consider adding these to your search keyword list - also you can just click on the title of the article to get a fuller list of keywords used
• In some databases certain SUBJECT searches will be suggested depending on your initial search which can be very helpful. Remember a SUBJECT is what the main topic of an article is, so all the results will be relevant. In EBSCO simply click on the subject thesaurus or Subject Major heading on the left of the main screen
• You may then decide to rerun the search with different keywords or Subject areas
• Also check Summon and Google scholar for the article as these link to other free resources
• For medical / Biological articles also check Pubmed and click on the free full text limiter – this limiter is on the left of the results screen.
• To look at full text for any article click on PDF full text link – you can e mail articles to your student e mail from most databases or print or save using the print and save shortcuts.
• You can save results and also set up e mail subject alerts by setting up a personal login on the library databases
• If you find a very relevant article in any database do check the reference list at the end of the article; you can search for journal title on the main library page to see if AIT holds the journal referenced or if AIT has a link to it.
• NOTE: If the journal title is in abbreviated format simply type the abbreviation into a google search with the word ‘journal’ beside it and the full title will appear
• Pubmed has a ‘Related citation’ link on its searches to help you find similar articles
• Google scholar has a ‘Cited by’ and Cited in’ function which can also be used to find similar material.
EBSCO:
Double click on ‘EBSCO Databases-Search All’ and enter your login in information when prompted. Click on EBSCO HOST WEB: Click on tick boxes beside all relevant databases in EBSCO: (information given as to contents). Sign in to create alerts and save searches.
SCIENCE DIRECT
Choose advanced search: Sign in to create alerts and save searches
PUB MED
Enter keywords or Key phases: Use Free full text filter on left: Sign in to create alerts and save searches
GOOGLE SCHOLAR
Enter keywords or Key phases: Sign in to create alerts and save searches
OTHER FREE DATABASES
Click on the ‘eResources’ tab and then on ‘eJournals’ link, and scroll down to the science section. ‘Highwire’ and ‘BioMed Central’ are examples of good free databases.
Also click on the ‘eResources’ tab and then on the ‘Institutional repositories’ link for free resources such as RIAN, Ethos (theses) and LENUS
Lenus www.lenus .ie is a good source for Irish material in the healthcare sector.
MORE FREE ONLINE RESOURCES
Check the AIT Library Subject guide in your subject area for a list of online links