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Health Sciences Library Research Module

QuickSearch

Besides using the library's databases to search for articles, you can use the library's QuickSearch discovery tool.

QuickSearch allows you to search across most of the SHU Library's databases and other resources all at once, casting a much wider net. This tool can be particularly helpful when:

  • You are unsure which specific database(s) to start with

  • You are researching a narrow topic that might have limited literature

  • You want to get a quick initial sense of how much published research there may be on a topic

Using QuickSearch

You can use the QuickSearch tool in two ways:

1. Basic QuickSearch (library homepage):

The QuickSearch box on the library homepage offers quick filtering options below the single search field. Before you search, you can limit results to:

  • Full-text only

  • Peer-reviewed only

Simply check the boxes, enter your search terms, and click Search.

2. Advanced QuickSearch:  

For more search options, click the "Advanced Search" button.

This opens a search page that will look almost exactly like the search pages that you see in individual databases like CINAHL or MEDLINE, and will include: 

  • Multiple search fields 

  • Additional filter options

  • More control over your search

Use Basic QuickSearch for simple searches and Advanced QuickSearch when you need to combine multiple concepts or use specialized filters.

QuickSearch or Individual Databases?  

As mentioned above, QuickSearch's main advantage is that it allows you to search most of the library's resources (like CINAHL, MEDLINE, the library's ebooks, etc.) all at once. However, it has several limitations:

  • It is not a one-stop search tool. Several resource collections and databases are excluded from the search, including major health science resources like Trip Medical Database and Nursing and Allied Health Collection.

  • The broad reach of QuickSearch can potentially generate too many results, making it difficult to sort through and find relevant articles. For example, searching for peer-reviewed articles with the terms "social media" AND "mental health" AND "students" in CINAHL will produce 429 search results. Meanwhile, the exact same search in QuickSearch will produce 9,850 results.

You can choose how to explore the library's resources, and many students use a combination of QuickSearch and individual databases. However, for nursing and health sciences research, you will often get more focused and relevant results by starting with specialized databases like CINAHL or MEDLINE.

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