https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv Don't skip this step! en-us 2016-07-07 08:23:27 UTC 2026-01-05 18:26:15 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Lightdecrease.png j_boland1 https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116045691 Use your research topic or assignment title to provide you with the first set of keywords you'll look for.]]> 2016-07-07 08:25:14 UTC https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116045691 j_boland1 https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116048336 You will need to think of as many different terms (keywords/ phrases) that describe the concepts you want to look for e.g. 'older people' because you can't be sure what terms authors of articles may have used.

It's better to search for something and get no answers, than to not search for something because you think no-one will use that term and so potentially miss out on relevant research.]]> 2016-07-07 09:15:12 UTC https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116048336 j_boland1 https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116048700 First you need to think about limits.
Are you going to set any limits on the information that you're looking for?

Are you bilingual/ multilingual? A fluent reader in other languages? If not, then you may want to limit results to your primary language.

What about full-text articles? Can you get hold of articles that your library doesn't have access to in print or electronic format? (Some libraries won't let you order inter-library loans until you're at least a 2nd year undergraduate.)

What about a date range? Do you want to see everything written on a topic? Or just what's been written recently?]]> 2016-07-07 09:22:09 UTC https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116048700 j_boland1 https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116049370 Well...no, not yet.
Where do you want to search?
In order to answer this question you need to have some idea about what type of information you're looking for.

Are you looking for: articles; professional guidelines; standards; maps; introductory information; government reports; codes of conduct?
Depending on your answer, this will have an impact on where you look for your information.

Introductory information: books are a good place to start if you have little knowledge of a topic so check out your library catalogue.

Articles: databases (these are usually password protected), digital repositories for universities, open access collections, Google Scholar

Guidelines or standards: professional bodies for particular disciplines e.g. Nursing & Midwifery Council, College of Occupational Therapists; or, industry level bodies such as NICE

Government reports: the website(s) of particular government departments e.g. Department of Health in the UK]]> 2016-07-07 09:34:09 UTC https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116049370 j_boland1 https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116271379 The final step is to decide how your search is going to work in practice i.e. how are you going to combine your search terms?

Many databases have an advanced search screen that 'guides' you in the process of grouping your search terms together.

What does this mean in the context of the example here?

If you want to look for depression and older people (plus all the variant terms for this age group) and residential care (plus all the variant terms for the location) then there are two things you need to do:
You need to work out which terms you want to appear in the same record or web page together (i.e. a AND b - depression AND aged)

And, which terms don't have to appear in the same record or web page together (i.e. a OR b - aged OR elderly)

And then it's a good idea to map out how you'll combine them - which terms with which terms - so that you know which boxes to select when you're looking at a database's advanced search screen.]]> 2016-07-12 13:19:37 UTC https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116271379 j_boland1 https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116273135 Use speech marks to tell the database or search engine that you want to look for a phrase i.e. older immediately followed by people in the same sentence:
"older people"

Without "speech marks" the resource will also look for older people as separate words anywhere in a given article record or web page regardless of how far away from each other they are which could throw off the entire meaning of the article being added to your results list.]]> 2016-07-12 13:39:38 UTC https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116273135 j_boland1 https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116273785 2016-07-12 13:45:32 UTC https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116273785 j_boland1 https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116280660 2016-07-12 15:27:19 UTC https://padlet.com/j_boland1/lfq6teva2hrv/wish/116280660