This page provides an introduction to some Library resources and search tools I hope you will find useful for your research and assignments for HSCI 1115. You will be able to access them off campus with your KPU ID.
Questions? Feel free to contact Celia Brinkerhoff, Health Science/Biology Librarian Celia.Brinkerhoff@kpu.ca
Or, use one of the many ways to get help from a librarian on our Ask Us page.
Here's what we will cover in today's orientation:
Scenario:
"Your uncle is a 60-year-old man with a history of myocardial infarction (heart attack). He has high blood pressure and has been leading a sedentary lifestyle. He wants to get serious about his health. He wants to start losing weight and engage in physical activity. He buys a new iPhone and learns he can use apps. A friend tells him that apple store has 165000 health related apps, he decides to consult with you since you are taking a health class."
Your job is to evaluate a specific health technology app, using credible sources located on the web and through the KPU library. Refer to your assignment for suggestions and guidelines.
For the library workshop, we will be using the weight loss programme, Weight Watchers. You will be choosing your own health app to evaluate.
Tip: Consider choosing a health app that is fairly well known so that you can locate credible information about it. Health technology that is established will be more likely to be the focus of health research and covered by scientific and medical literature.
Below is a set of criteria, or questions, to consider when trying to determine whether a source is credible, relevant, or appropriate for your assignment.
Click the arrows to expand.
A few tips from Advanced Google will be useful additions to your searching for credible sources.
The following screenshot shows a search that uses exact phrase searching "weight watchers" and is restricted to the U.S. government's National Institutes of Health. You can set up your search using the Advanced Google search interface (linked above) until you are familiar with the shorthand commands. Click on the screenshot to see the actual 3,100 results all housed on NIH site.
Use the library's main search box to locate articles, research documents, books and ebooks, streaming videos, and more.
A sample search strategy for our app Weight Watchers might look like this:
"weight watchers" AND outcomes
Adding additional terms to our search, depending on what we are trying to find out, will reduce the number of results, and make them more focussed or relevant.
For example, satisfaction, marketing, sales, etc could be used instead of outcomes in the above search. Similarly, you might want to include a term to describe the population of users you might be recommending the app to: for instance, seniors, or heart attack patients.
Alternatively, try using a broader term such as "health app" or "health applications", "diet apps" or "weight loss apps".
From the set of initial results, use the filters and limits on the left to narrow your results by date and content type.
The following short video from KPU Library demonstrates how to search Summon using a few keywords and filters or limits to narrow your results.
Not sure what a scholarly journal article looks like? The following short video points out distinguishing features of this kind of publication and also describes the peer-review process.
Image source: CFCF CCBY-SA 4.0.
Using LWW Online (this database includes our largest repository of Systematic Reviews - both Cochrane & JBI), click on the Limit option under the search box and select Full Systematic Reviews
Using CINAHL, select Meta Analysis and/or Systematic Review from the Publication Type menu on the landing page (use the CTRL button on the keyboard to select both from the menu)
Using Medline, select Systematic Reviews from the Publication Type menu on the landing page
Using PubMed, under the Article Types filter in the left-hand column of your search results, select Systematic Reviews and/or Meta-Analysis
Using Summon (the big box on the library homepage), include "systematic review" in your search
Using Google Scholar, include "systematic review" in your search
There are many ways to access health information on the Statistics Canada site. Starting with some of these basic tools will provide you with a quick overview of your topic.
Keep in mind that most health data is the responsibility of Statistics Canada. The following link searches Statistics Canada by Province. Use the filters on the left to locate by subject.
The links below are to BC specific statistical sources.
APA (American Psychological Association) citation style is an "author-date" style of referencing your sources. it consists of 2 piece: an in-text reference to your source (including author last name and date of publication) as well as a reference list at the end of your paper or assignment.
The library has an introduction to the style on its APA Citation guide Useful tabs to get to know are the "In-text citations" tab and the "How do I cite....." tab where you will find examples for various types of sources.
The APA also has its own excellent Style Site. Browse References and In-text citations for details.