Contact Me
Anne Zald
she/her
Contact:
Anne Zald
Subjects: Government Information; Regulatory Compliance; Gender & Sexuality Studies
Northwestern University Library
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
Make an Appointment
Subjects: Government Information; Regulatory Compliance; Gender & Sexuality Studies
Northwestern University Library
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
Make an Appointment
847-467-6441
Helpful Tips
- NUsearch This link opens in a new windowNUsearch is the main search tool for Northwestern University Library, combining the library catalog with a wealth of other databases and online collections.
- NUSearch: Your AccountSee what you have checked out and renew materials.
To set up home delivery for books (see the section on Off Campus Delivery on the Borrowing Materials page of our website) - Interlibrary LoanThis service will borrow material for your use that the NU Libraries does not have, or if it is checked out by someone else. You can request any format of material (books, book chapters, journal articles, DVDs, etc.)
- Database Search Connectors & PunctuationChart summarizing connectors and punctuation used most frequently for effective database searches.
- Google Scholar Settings To Avoid PaywallsJust a few easy steps to set your Google Scholar settings to include links to NU Libraries subscription content and avoid pay walls!
- Sutton A, Clowes M, Preston L, Booth A. Meeting the review family: exploring review types and associated information retrieval requirements. Health Info Libr J. 2019 Sep;36(3):202-222. doi: 10.1111/hir.12276. PMID: 31541534."This study aims to characterise health related reviews by type and to provide recommendations on appropriate methods of information retrieval based on the available guidance."
Research Methods
- Sage Research Methods Core Collection This link opens in a new windowthe ultimate methods library with more than 1000 books, reference works, journal articles, and instructional videos by world-leading academics from across the social sciences, including the largest collection of qualitative methods books available online from any scholarly publisher. – Publisher
- Springer Nature Experiments This link opens in a new windowA tool to help researchers discover the most relevant protocols and methods. It brings together content from SpringerProtocols, Nature Methods, Nature Protocols and Protocol Exchange.
Resources for Articles
Click to navigate to the appropriate topical section below:
Medicine / Health Care
- PubMed This link opens in a new windowPubMed is a free resource supporting the search and retrieval of biomedical and life sciences literature, developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). PubMed contains more than 36 million citations and abstracts ... links to the full text are often present when available from other sources, such as the publisher's website or PubMed Central (PMC).
- PLoS Medicine This link opens in a new windowPLoS Medicine is an international, multidisciplinary medical journal that publishes outstanding human studies that substantially enhance the understanding of human health and disease. PLoS Medicine aims to promote translation of basic research into clinical investigation, and of clinical evidence into practice. PLoS Medicine encourages papers that cross disciplines.
- Cochrane Library This link opens in a new windowA collection of databases that contain high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. Includes Cochrane Reviews (systematic reviews), Clinical Answers, and a searchable registister of randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials.
- CINAHL Plus with Full Text This link opens in a new windowCINAHL is the authoritative resource for nursing and allied health professionals, students, educators and researchers It provides indexing for over 1,200 nursing journals and publications dating back to 1982.
- Embase This link opens in a new windowEmbase is a major biomedical and pharmaceutical database indexing international journals in the fields of drug research, pharmacology, pharmaceutics, toxicology, clinical and experimental human medicine, health policy and management, public health, occupational health, environmental health, drug dependence and abuse, psychiatry, forensic medicine, and biomedical engineering/instrumentation.
- VitalLaw This link opens in a new windowPrior names: Cheetah; CCH Intelliconnect.
Provides full-text access to law, regulations, and compliance guidance materials in many areas of legal practice including health care and Medicaid/Medicare, life sciences (FDA), product liability (CPSC). - Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowNexis Uni features news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790, with an intuitive interface that offers quick discovery across all content types.
Multidisciplinary Databases
In each of these databases your search will identify articles in journals from a wide range of subject areas including physical and life sciences, technology, social sciences, business and leadership, and the arts and humanities.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowThis multidisciplinary database provides access to articles from journals, magazines, and reference sources across all subject areas. Coverage is primarily from 1980 to the present, with some older content.
- ScienceDirect This link opens in a new windowA database for scientific research that contains the full text of more than 1000 Elsevier Science journals in the life, physical, medical, technical, and social sciences available throught the Internet. Contains abstracts and articles from the core journals in major scientific disciplines. The journals are arranged under subject areas for topical navigation.
- Scopus This link opens in a new windowScopus is the largest abstract and citation database, including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources. Subject coverage : Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Engineering ; Life and Health Sciences ; Social Sciences, Psychology and Economics ; Biological, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
- Web of Science This link opens in a new windowMultidisciplinary coverage of over 10,000 journals in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities, as well as published proceedings for over 12,000 conferences per year, and over 50,000 scholarly books.Powerful tools allow you to search and see what articles in the database have cited a particular work, as well as perform other analytics.
- PsycINFO This link opens in a new windowProduced by the American Psychological Association, this database is a comprehensive index to the professional and academic literature in psychology, counseling and related disciplines. Covers 1860-present.
- Child Development and Adolescent Studies This link opens in a new windowChild Development & Adolescent Studies contains citations on the growth and development of children through the age of 21. Provides worldwide, current and historical content in biomedicine and the social sciences. 1927-Present Individual publication coverage varies by title.
- Social Services Abstracts This link opens in a new windowSocial Services Abstracts provides citations of current research focused on social work, human services, mental health services, social welfare, social policy, community development, and more. Covers 1979-present.
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowSociological Abstracts provides citations and abstracts to international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Content coverage includes culture and social structure, history and theory of sociology, race and ethnicity, social change and economic development, and more. 1952-Present. Individual publication coverage varies by title.
- ABI/INFORM Global This link opens in a new windowSearch worldwide business periodicals for in-depth coverage of business and economic conditions, management techniques, theory, and practice of business, advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more.
- Business Source Premier This link opens in a new windowFull text articles from regional, national and international business and trade journals.
Activities & Session Feedback
Database search results can be improved through trial and error. Practice using the questions in the chart below and considering the reflection questions when reviewing search results.
| PICO Research Question | Keywords / Synonyms for Database Search Keywords |
Database to Search |
|---|---|---|
|
Does a ketogenic diet improve glycemic control |
"ketogenic diet" "type 2 diabetes mellitus" obesity "glycemic control" ~~~~~~~~~~ Which concepts of the question Is the 'comparative' element of the question addressed in results that do not use that keyword? Did you identify additional, perhaps better, keywords among your search results? Are synonyms helpful? For all |
PubMed Embase Cochrane
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What similarities & differences do you notice about the search results in these databases? For different databases is it important to use different keywords? What search filters are offered by the different databases? How could those be helpful? |
Session Feedback
- Feedback FormPlease complete this short feedback form to help me understand what you learned during this session.
Instructional Videos
Searching with Keywords (~2.5 min)
This short video provides tips that will improve your searches in library databases.
Scholarly & Popular Articles (~4 min) - a review of their characteristics
- Popular vs. Scholarly ArticlesComparative chart summarizing characteristics of different types of articles
- Tips for Reading Scholarly ArticlesPeer reviewed articles in the sciences tend to have a standard format which you can leverage to improve your comprehension of the research study and its results.