Technical Details:
Before we start searching, know that accessing much of the Shoreline CC Library's digital resources and content might require you signing in using your Shoreline Network ID. This will usually be the same as your email address (typical format: firstname.lastname@go.shoreline.edu) and password. If you're having trouble accessing these credentials, you can reset your password using this form from Technical Support Services or get support through their site. If you're having trouble signing in to access Shoreline's databases, you can also let us know at the Library at Library@shoreline.edu or submit a ticket to Technical Support Service's Support Center for more help.
"One Search" refers to the comprehensive search feature on Shoreline's Ray W. Howard Library website that allows users to find relevant sources across the entirety of the Library's collection, including physical and digital materials, and is searchable by format, publication date, topic, and more. This is a great starting point that can help cast a wide net of research and give a better understanding of what kinds of information is available on a topic and how successful your particular keywords are in delivering useful results.
Check out the video below for a tour of the One Search function:
Academic Search Complete is one of most comprehensive interdisciplinary databases. Starting here can help you get a sense of what might be available about a broader topic and help you narrow down an idea and consider using more specific disciplinary databases next.
PubMed is an open-access database of peer-reviewed scholarly articles across the Health Sciences. Below is a tutorial demonstrating how to access PubMed from the Shoreline Library, how to use its tools to search, cite, and follow the scholarly conversations around your topic.
PubMed is a great site for Literature Reviews, Reviews, and Meta-analyses, but if you are only looking for original research, you might have to sift through a lot of not relevant articles first, try adding NOT (Review[Publication Type]) to the end of your query (usually we connect search terms with AND as our Boolean operator, since we want to see the relationship between them both, but you can also use NOT in order to narrow down results by excluding certain content.
Database "tour" and search strategies for CINAHL with Full Text (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) featuring Shoreline Librarian Lauren Bryant. CINAHL is equipped with the ability to sort through results using numerous custom filters, which can strategically generate relevant results that are less dependent on having the exact "perfect" search terms. CINAHL covers an extensive range of allied health science disciplines.
Google Scholar is another great tool to add to your research strategies when looking for academic articles, scholarly journals, and peer-reviewed resources.
Google Scholar allows you to run a specialized search of papers written in academic contexts across databases and other locations. Since many scholarly or academic papers are behind paywalls, you can link your Google Scholar search settings with Shoreline Community College's Ray Howard Library so that your searches identify which of these results can also be found in full text in our library databases. Linking our library with your search settings makes sure you see which resources we have access to.
Check out this quick step-by-step introduction to Google Scholar, with instructions for linking results to Shoreline's Library and a tour of some key search features.
One tip I find very helpful is if I sometimes encounter a paywalled article, but I'm not sure whether or not I have access to it, I'll copy and paste the title of the article into the Google Scholar search bar, and often I'll get a result for the article including the PDF on the right side of the results. Not all articles can be found this way, but it's a good way to double-check your access.
Epidemics and Pandemics
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The Burdens of Disease
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Research Ethics in Epidemics and Pandemics
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