Adapted from https://guides.library.unisa.edu.au/
The advice and interventions of OH&S professionals must be based "on evidence from science, in balance with their expertise, and with workers’ and other stakeholders’ values and preferences. Evidence-based professional practice is one of the remedies against misinformation creating confusion and distrust in the society." van Dijk, F., & Caraballo-Arias, Y. (2021). Where to Find Evidence-Based Information on Occupational Safety and Health?. Annals of Global Health, 87(1), 6
Through the library, you'll find professional and scholarly resources. The types of resources that you can find via the library include:
When doing any kind of research, you'll want to find a mix of these resources to have a well-rounded and thorough view of your topic.
1. Open Web:
(online encyclopedias and dictionaries, professional organizations’ sites, universities’ and colleges’ sites, and government sites)
2. Article Databases:
Reference books include encyclopaedias, handbooks, dictionaries, bibliographies and directories. Use them to define terms, or find topic overviews. These books will help you get familiarized with your topic. Find more by searching the library catalogue.
Encyclopedias: To save time, use encyclopedias in the early stages of the research process! The condensed articles give good topic overview and context for your later research. Perusing an encyclopedia will offer keywords that will focus on your topic and that you can use in database searches. |
Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia The Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing & Allied Health MedlinePlus includes an Encyclopedia. Mosby's dictionary of medicine, nursing & health professions. R 121 M89 2022
Wikipedia (use with caution). Use it for a very general overview of your topic and for its list of References or Further Readings at the end of the essay.
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Dictionaries: |
Visual Thesaurus -- allows you to try 3 "visual searches" for free; it is subscription based. It creates word maps. Wordnik -- online dictionary that integrates visualization tools, social media, etc.
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Handbook at the BCIT Library: |
Current medical diagnosis & treatment RC 71 A14 2021 |
Snowballing
A: "Looking forwards" in your research
Cited by shows a list of works that cited this article. The higher the number, the more important the article is in its discipline.
Related articles redirects to similar articles on the subject sharing some of the same keywords and/or references
B: "Looking backwards"
BONUS POINTS: This process also helps identify key highly cited authors within a topic to help establish the "experts" in the field.
Watch the video on Forward & Backward Searching: Using Citation Searches for Literature Reviews, from the University of Wisconsin Whitewater
FUN FACT: Click here to find out more about Boolean Logic.
George Boole, an English mathematician in the 19th century, developed "Boolean Logic" in order to combine certain concepts and exclude certain concepts when searching databases.
Pronunciation: BOO-le-un
Identify key concepts and alternative terms in your topic
preventing sleep exhaustion among truck drivers Brainstorming Keywords The words you type into the search box affect your search results. Not all authors use the same language to describe similar topics, so you will need to try a variety of searches.
Keywords: sleep, health behavior, decision-making, safety, driving Drowsy driving; Driver lifestyle; Driver behavior; Safety; Truck drivers; Driving motivations “truck driver” AND “fatigue”. Note: Because the dimension of emotional fatigue may not be adequately addressed in the long-haul trucking literature, the key terms “emotional fatigue” AND “occupational” AND “safety” could also be included.
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2. Search on a Database: Academic Search Complete
(sleep or “sleep loss” OR narcolepsy or insomnia OR drowsy or "sleep deprivation" or "sleep quality") AND "truck driver*" Limiters – date (e.g., published within the last 10 years), language.
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