Databases
Literature databases are computer databases which contain bibliographic reference information about journal articles, newspapers, books, dissertations and other printed material. Some of them also have the full text of journal articles and newspapers. They can contain both consumer-oriented and research materials.
Database records are made up of specific fields. For example some fields might be title, author, subject heading, abstract, source etc. When you search a database, the computer looks in these fields for the words typed in the search box.
Databases can be limited to one subject such as CINAHL(nursing literature) or can be broad in scope such as Expanded Academic. The premier literature databases in health are MEDLINE and CINAHL.
Sample Citation from MEDLINE/PubMED
1: Cancer Nurs. 2007 Jan-Feb;30(1):31-7. (Journal title, year, volume #)
Knowledge of and barriers to pain management in caregivers of cancer patients receiving homecare. (Title of article)
Vallerand AH, Collins-Bohler D, Templin T, Hasenau SM. (Authors)
College of Nursing, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA. april.vallerand@wayne.edu (First author's affiliation)
Cancer treatment is increasingly being provided in outpatient settings, requiring many of the responsibilities for patient care to be undertaken by family caregivers. Pain is one of the most frequent and distressing symptoms experienced by cancer patients and is a primary concern for the family caregiver. Caregivers struggle with many issues that lead to inadequate management of cancer pain. The purpose of this study was to determine pain management knowledge and examine concerns about reporting pain and using analgesics in a sample of primary family caregivers of cancer patients receiving homecare. The Barriers Questionnaire and the Family Pain Questionnaire were administered to 46 primary caregivers. Between 46% and 94% of the caregivers reported having at least some agreement with the various concerns that are barriers to reporting pain and using analgesics, and up to 15% reported having strong agreement. The areas of greatest concern were about opioid-related side effects, fears of addiction, and the belief that pain meant disease progression. Results showed that caregivers with higher pain management knowledge had significantly fewer barriers to cancer pain management, supporting the importance of increasing caregiver's knowledge of management of cancer pain. (Abstract)
PMID: 17235217 (PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE)
(This icon will help you locate the full text of the journal article. You will see it in many of the library databases.)
Nursing/Medical/Health Databases
Includes databases such as CINAHL, MEDLINE (PubMED and EBSCO MEDLINE), and Clinical Pharmacology.
Mental Health Databases
Includes databases such as HAPI, PsychINFO and Child Welfare
Systematic Reviews
Includes the Cochrane Library
Multidisciplinary Databases
Includes Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhostWeb, Web of Science