Respiratory Care Research

Start your information-seeking by doing a keyword search in Primo, our library's catalog, or in our research databases (example: respiratory). To narrow your search, combine terms with "AND" (example: respiratory AND asthma). To broaden your search, combine terms with "OR" [example: respiratory AND (asthma OR allergy)].

Keyword searching - With a keyword search you look for a word, no matter where that word appears. If you like, you can specify that the word be in a particular field (e.g. the title, author, or subject), but it can be in any position (beginning, middle, or end).

• Think of other words which express the same concepts as those you're looking for.  Keep in mind that the system searches for the exact letters you type, and not the general ideas they express. The system doesn't think. So you have to plan for single and plural, more specific and more general terms, nouns, adjectives, and verbs, etc.
  
  For example, for the topic 'Community programs for the prevention of social isolation in seniors', keywords to consider may include:

• To search for a phrase many databases require quotations marks around the words. Otherwise, the database assumes an AND between the words and will search for them separately. Keep in mind every database is different so you should check the HELP section to see how that database searches phrases.
  
  Eg. "social isolation"
   
• Truncation and wildcards are used to find variations of words.
  
  Truncation will find any ending for the root of a word. The truncation symbol in most journal databases is the asterisk *.
  
  E.g. program* will find program or programs or programmes
  
  Wildcards are used within a word, to represent any letter. In CINAHL the wildcard symbol is #. 
  
  E.g. p#ediatric will find pediatric or paediatric
   
• Combining Keywords

When you use AND, you are specifying that both terms must be found in every item found

E.g. program* and "social isolation" and elder* and americ*
 

When you use OR, you are specifying that items have either of the terms, but not necessarily both. Use an OR between synonymous or similar terms for a concept.

E.g. elder* or "older adults" or aged
 

Some databases provide search forms (usually in an Advanced search screen) so that you don't need to type in AND or OR. For those that don't, you need to place parentheses around those terms that have OR between them.

E.g. (program* or intervention*) and ("social isolation") and (elder* or "older adults" or aged) and (americ* or "united states" or usa)