1. Identify main concepts and keywords. Break your topic/question down into three of four concepts which define the topic/question rather than putting the whole title of your assignment in the database search box . E.g., if you are wanting to find research relating to the effects of caffeinated drinks on the performance of cyclists, you could break your search down into the three concepts:
cyclists AND "caffeinated drinks" AND performance.
2.Find Synonyms (alternative keywords) (Boolean OR broadens the search to include alternative keywords):
3. AND (joins concepts and narrows the search) :
4. Be aware of differences in American and English spelling and terminology. Most databases use American spelling and terminology as preferred subject terms.
5. Use Truncation (putting * at the end of a word stem will search all forms of the word). This is a really useful technique as it avoids having to run lots of separate searches and ensures you are not missing out on relevant results.
6. "...." (inverted commas) use for a phrase which will search for that exact phrase with the words in that order rather than two separate keywords.
My EBSCOhost will allow you to:
For further information see the video tutorial
Databases:
You can search across most of the Library's databases (we have over 200) using the Find books and articles search on the Library homepage (using the Advanced search is the best). But searching across individual databases provides access to subject specific articles and you won't be overwhelmed by the number of results you are finding (as you can be using the main library search).
Comprehensive sports and sports medicine database with full-text coverage dating back to 1985. Includes content from therapy to recreation, focusing on all aspects of fitness and health relating to sports medicine and related fields.
Interactive 3D virtual models of the human head, torso, limbs and joints.
You can register for a Personal Profile to add customisation to your searching.
Provides access to Association for Physical Education members' area and includes the Physical Education Matters journal archive.
Access to AfPE requires an additional log-in.
Abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed research literature from scientific, technical, medical and social sciences fields and, more recently, also in the arts and humanities.
Scopus uniquely combines a comprehensive, expertly curated abstract and citation database with enriched data and linked scholarly literature across a wide variety of disciplines. Scopus quickly finds relevant and authoritative research, identifies experts and provides access to reliable data, metrics and analytical tools. Be confident in progressing research, teaching or research direction and priorities.
Admin: reviewed 22/07/2024
Shared off-air recording and media archive service. Programmes can only be viewed in the UK.
You will need to register with the site before you can access the content.
Abstract and index database comprising more than 24 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books.
Access to authoritative medical information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, and much more. Created by the National Library of Medicine, MEDLINE uses MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) indexing with tree, tree hierarchy, subheadings and explosion capabilities to search citations from over 4,800 current biomedical journals.
Full text for nursing and allied health journals with coverage dating back to 1981. Includes RCNi journals.
The American Psycholgical Association's database of abstracts of journal articles, book chapters, books and dissertations in psychology and related disciplines. Coverage is from the 19th century to the present.
Full-text access to scientific, technical & medical peer-reviewed journals and book chapters.
ScienceDirect combines authoritative, full-text scientific, technical and health publications with smart, intuitive functionality so that users can stay informed in their fields and can work more effectively and efficiently.
Admin: reviewed 22/07/2024
Abstract and index database of articles from academic journals covering the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities.
Multi-disciplinary journals, reports and proceedings.
The most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, spanning from 1743 to the present day and offering full text for graduate works added since 1997, along with selected full text for works written prior to 1997. It contains a significant amount of new international dissertations and theses both in citations and in full text.
If you wish to access full text theses, please make sure the "Full text" option is ticked under the search bar.