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Health Sciences Literature Searching: Tutorials

Students and researchers in the health sciences often conduct comprehensive searches of the literature. The steps in this guide show how this process works.

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The following short videos and tutorials will help you learn more how to search the health sciences databases BCIT has a subscription to. 

This guide details the elements that make up the SIFT method. SIFT (The Four Moves) is a method used to analyze information found in scholarly resources and also news or other online media. SIFT looks at the context of the information.

Video here about Controlled Vocabularies or Subject headings,, developed by Manhattan College
 

Boolean Searching

Boolean searching uses AND, OR, and NOT to refine searches. Understanding how Boolean works is important to academic research. 

Video above about Boolean Operators: How to Search, developed by the Oregon Health & Science University

 
 

This video series discusses the importance of a controlled vocabulary search when looking for information in the Health Sciences field. Examples are provided when examining CINAHL subject headings. 

Video above about Controlled Vocabularies or Subject headings,, developed by Duquesne University
 

This tutorial discusses the PICO model for research in the Health Sciences. The videos will discuss how to properly use PICO in your search, as well as create examples to follow along with when putting a PICO search together.

Video above about Formatting a Research Question -- Using PICO, developed by Duquesne University