This page will help you get more out of your Library resources for your assignments, projects and dissertations in Nutrition

Independent Research - getting started

It is important to understand the kind of information you need when researching for your assignment.  For example you may want to start by finding definitions or background information. Alternatively you may be seeking statistics or research findings. Once you have decided what type of information you need you can use the Ocean of Information to help you to understand the value of different sources and how to access them.

Evaluating your sources is also crucial when writing a piece of academic work - the Evaluating information page on the library website will guide you through this process

  • Library catalogue

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    The Library Catalogue contains details of books, journals, DVDs and other materials held by the library in physical form as well as many resources available electronically (eg. e-books and databases).

    A 'search term' may be all or part of a title, author, publisher or simply subject keywords.

    A guide to the using the library catalogue can be found here /guides/docs/LG174.pdf

  • Ebook Central

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Access around 200,000 ebooks across all subject areas.

  • Medicines Complete

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Medicines Complete is an online platform with access to medical ebooks.

    Includes:

    • British national formulary
    • British national formulary for Children
    • Pharmaceutical excipients
    • Stockley's drug interactions

Creating a search strategy

The following pages have been designed to take you step-by-step through the process of creating a search strategy.

They can be read in the order given, or if one step of the process is of particular interest to you - for example - Applying search techniques - you can go straight to that section.

Today’s search topic is:

The impact of hand hygiene on infection control in a hospital setting.

Please note, while the above topic is health related, the same searching principles will apply across all Health and Science subjects. 

Instead of typing the whole topic into Google or any other search engine, we are going to break our topic into concepts before we begin searching. 

When you have broken your topic down into concepts, you can start thinking more carefully about the vocabulary that may be used for each of the concepts you have identified.

  • Alternative keywords will help you to broaden your search if you are not finding very much information on your topic.
  • Alternative keywords will help you to narrow your search and make it more subject specific if you are finding too much information.

The Alternative keywords video explains the process in more detail.

When you have selected the alternative keywords for your search strategy, it is time to apply some search techniques to those keywords. The Applying Search Techniques video explains more about using “phrase searching” and truncation.

When you have applied your phrase searching and truncation, you are ready to run your search in EBSCO Discovery

When you have run your search in EBSCO Discovery, you may want to consider using Limiters to help you refine your results. The Using Limiters video highlights some of the limiters available to you.

EBSCO Discovery is a database that searches the majority of databases that we subscribe to. When you become familiar with EBSCO Discovery you might want to explore the more subject specific databases to enhance your literature searching. This video shows you how.

Independent Research - beyond the basics

To search databases systematically you must first consider the vocabulary you are using and how you combine your search terms. This Applying a search strategy library guide will help you in this process, or if you prefer to use mind mapping techniques this Choosing keywords guide may also help you.

Having decided upon your search terms you will need to use the advanced search screens of Discovery or your preferred databases to conduct your search. In some cases you may wish to use the search history function to develop a systematic search strategy. Advanced search strategies require you to utilize Boolean operators. The following video demonstrates how to use the advanced search option.

The University Library also provides access to a large range of resources to help you to develop your research skills. This includes the Sage Research Methods package.

  • Sage Research Methods

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Access books and videos about quantitative and qualitative research methods and many more social science research topics. Use the Tools drop-down at the top centre of the screen to access a handy Project Planner which is full of FAQs about what you need to consider at each stage in a project/dissertation. Tools also contains a Methods Map which is ideal for quickly finding details about a particular research method.

  • CINAHL

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    What:

    • CINAHL (the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) contain journal article abstracts with links to the full-text where available

    Why:

    • Locate articles from the nursing and allied health subjects

    How:

    • Keyword and Thesaurus searching with ability to refine results by date, peer reviewed, age, gender, author, language
    • Cited reference search and links
    • Help pages available
    • This database is available to search on its own from the link above, plus you will find CINAHL results when searching Discovery

    Using CINAHL/MeSH Subject Headings 

     

  • The Cochrane Library

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    What:

    • The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases that contain high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making and is the leading source to support evidence based practice.

    Why:

    • Locate systematic reviews, clinical trials and find abstracts of economic evaluations of health care interventions.

    How:

    • Keyword and Thesaurus searching with ability to refine results by database searched
    • Help pages available 

     

  • Google Scholar

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    What

    • A variant of Google that searches for academic literature

    Why

    • Provides access to articles, books, conference papers and preprints
    • Links to Full-text @ Portsmouth where available when settings are applied

    How

    • Simple or advanced searching allowing refinement by date, author etc
    • A Library Guide to this resource is available

  • NIHR Journals Library

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    The NIHR (National Institute of Health Research) Journals Library provides full publication and open access to an extensive body of health research. It comprises a suite of six programme-specific journal series, published online, which are fully searchable and provide a comprehensive record of work funded by these NIHR programmes.

  • PubMed

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    PubMed comprises millions of citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher websites

  • Scopus

    Large abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature covering all subject areas.

  • TRIP Database

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    The TRIP Database is a free to use clinical search engine which searches clinical articles, systematic reviews, and medical guidelines. There are links to full text where available.

  • Web of Science

    Part of Web of Knowledge, includes records for thousands of scholarly publications. Search across three main citation databases (Science/Social Science/Arts & Humanities). 

  • American Nutrition Association

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    The American Nutrition Association is a charitable non-profit organization. They champion the science and practice of personalised nutrition.

  • British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT)

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    BANT acts as a professional body for Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioners in one-to-one
    clinical practice and as a self-regulator for BANT Registered Nutritionists®. BANT oversees the
    activities, training and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of its practitioners and has a
    governing council, who may be non-members but whose professional experience lies in the medical,
    scientific or educational area of nutritional science.

  • Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC)

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    CHNC were set up by the government to protect the public by setting standards in complementary
    and natural healthcare. They provide an independent UK register of practitioners who meet the
    required standards.
    All CNHC registrants professionally trained, fully insured to practise and agree to be bound by
    standards of conduct.
    CNHC investigates complaints about alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct, Ethics and
    Performance. They impose disciplinary sanctions that mirror those of the statutory healthcare
    regulators.

  • GOV.UK

    Use this site to find UK Government information, publications or statistics.

  • Health Talk Online

    Fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Healthtalkonline is the award-winning website of the DIPEx charity and replaces the website formerly at dipex.org. Healthtalkonline lets you share in other people's experiences of health and illness. You can watch or listen to videos of the interviews, read about people's experiences and find reliable information about conditions, treatment choices and support.

  • Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM)

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    IFM is a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to ensure the widespread adoption of
    functional medicine. Their vision is to advance the highest expression of individual health.
    “Functional medicine determines how and why illness occurs and restores health by addressing the root causes of
    disease for each individual. The functional medicine model is an individualized, patient-centered,
    science-based approach that empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the
    underlying causes of disease and promote optimal wellness. It requires a detailed understanding of
    each patient’s genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors and leverages that data to direct
    personalized treatment plans that lead to improved patient outcomes”

  • The Kings Fund

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    The King's Fund is an independent charitable organisation working to improve health and care in England. Our vision is that the best possible health and care is available to all.

  • Royal College of Nursing

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

  • World Health Organization

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

  • British Library EthOS

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    A database of digitised UK doctoral theses offering free online access to theses of participating Higher Education institutions.

  • OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    General pages provide country information and statistics. Investment pages of particular interest.

  • Nexis Uni

    Full text articles from many news sources and trade journals both UK and international. Archives sometimes stretching back to the mid 1980s. For use in the UK only.

  • PressReader

    PressReader lets you access UK and international newspapers, plus a wide range of magazine content. Everything is full colour with archives varying in length depending on the publication.

    Login guidance

  • BoB: On demand TV and radio for education

    An archive of UK television and radio programmes from free to air channels (1998 onwards). For use in the UK only. Find some great tips about how to use BoB in these short videos.

  • Kanopy

    A unique collections of films including award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases on every topic imaginable. Content can be searched or browsed.

  • Visible Body Suite

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Visible Body is a 3D human body reference and study tool. Explore general anatomy, functional units, cross sections, muscle attachments, bony landmarks, muscle actions and more.

    To access this resource:

    • You must register for an account either on campus using a university PC or the University wifi, or if off campus register using the VPN.
    • Sign up with your University email address.
    • Once registered you can use your account to login off campus.
    • You must login on campus or via VPN every 150 days to revalidate your account.

     

  • Linkedin Learning

    Online learning and training courses covering business and employability, as well as creative and technical skills.

  • Statista: the portal for statistics

    Access to more than a million statistics from many different sources. Useful for finding industrial, economic and consumer market statistical trends.

  • Sage Research Methods

    Not fully searchable in EBSCO Discovery

    Access books and videos about quantitative and qualitative research methods and many more social science research topics. Use the Tools drop-down at the top centre of the screen to access a handy Project Planner which is full of FAQs about what you need to consider at each stage in a project/dissertation. Tools also contains a Methods Map which is ideal for quickly finding details about a particular research method.