A quick guide to the user interface

If you’re having problems navigating the user interface, this guide will help.

How to combine searches using search history

You can combine search terms using boolean operators on the initial search screen, or you can add individual terms in the search box and combine later by clicking on the Search history link.

Please note that you will need to click on this link, situated under the search boxes, after you have run your individual searches, as search history data does not now appear automatically:

Once you have clicked on the link, you can then combine your searches with the boolean operators AND and OR:

Your combined search is then added to the search box. Click on the magnifying glass to run your combined search.

How to refine your searches

You can refine your search by applying filters, such as publication date; online full text; peer reviewed.

The Filters button is now situated immediately below the search boxes. Click on it to display filters.

When you have selected your filters, click on the Apply button to display results.

How to select articles for download

Use the checkboxes to select individual articles from the results list, or tick the checkbox at the top of the results list to select multiple records at once.

Use the tools above the results list to download citations.

This will enable you to:

• Save the articles to a dashboard
• Add them to a project
• Share them via email or google
• Copy or export article citations.

How to read articles

Choose an article to read from the results list by clicking on the Access options button beneath the title and choosing your preferred full-text option from the menu.

If only one option is available, it will be displayed on the Access now button.

For more information about the article, click on the title:

What does my dashboard do, and how do I use it?

My dashboard to the left of the screen is where you will find all information you have saved.

To save items, you need to set up your own personal EBSCO account. Items you have saved can be accessed once you have signed in.

You can create your account by clicking on MyEbsco (top right-hand corner of screen), then clicking on Create an account.

How to search for individual publications

Click the Publications tab beneath the search boxes. Type the publication you require into the search box and click on the magnifying glass to run the search.

Searching within a publication

From the journal’s Publication detail screen, enter keywords in the Search within this publication box and click on the magnifying glass to run the search.

Further assistance

Video tutorial: Introduction to the new user interface

For further assistance, please contact [email protected].

All screenshots reproduced with the kind permission of EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO), https://www.ebsco.com/

The RCPharm Library subscribes to two databases via our EBSCO supplier. 

They are:

1. MEDLINE Complete
2. Biomedical Reference Collection

Our databases contain circa 6,000 full-text journals and many more citations. 

You can search these for information on any healthcare topic, from e-cigarettes and smoking cessation to antimicrobial resistance.

Being familiar with a few useful techniques can make it easier to find the information you need.

How to access our databases

Once you have accessed this e-library page, choose the Search our databases link. You will need to be a Member of the RCPharm and logged in to rcpharm.org to see the link.

Select the database you would like to use by clicking on the Searching link, located above the search boxes, and choosing an individual database. The default is for simultaneous searching.

If you are conducting more advanced searches, it’s better to search the databases individually so that you can map your search terms to MeSH subject headings when searching Medline, for example.

What are subject headings and why should I use them?

We use keywords to search databases and this is where subject headings/controlled vocabularies are useful, because they direct us to the term that subject specialists have used to index articles.

Example: You want to find articles on the use of Inderal for controlling hypertension. Using Medline, go to MEDLINE–MeSH 2026 underneath the search boxes and add the search term in the MEDLINE – MeSH 2026 search box.

Type ‘Inderal’ into the search box. The preferred term for ‘Inderal’ is ‘Propranolol’; tick the box next to’Inderal use: Propranolol’. Click on the Add to search button.

What is Boolean and why does it matter?

The term Boolean originates from Boolean algebra. It’s used as a means of linking words or concepts to make database searching more efficient.

AND

AND narrows your search

It only retrieves results where both search terms appear in the record.

OR

OR broadens your search. 

It retrieves records containing either search term or both. It is particularly useful for connecting synonyms.

NOT

NOT narrows your search 

It excludes terms from your search results; for example, Headache NOT Migraine will pick up every item on headache but will exclude those that include migraine.

Why would I use truncation?

Truncation enables you to retrieve documents which include variants of a word. 

Our databases use the asterisk * truncation symbol. Just add it to the root of the search term; for example, pharm* will retrieve pharmacist, pharmacists, pharmacy, pharmacies etc. in the search results.

Using Limiters

Even combining Boolean search techniques can retrieve a large set of results, and this is where being able to limit those results is useful. 

Each database has a different set of limiters but common ones are date, language and publication type.

Further assistance

Video tutorial: Introduction to the new user interface

For further assistance, please contact [email protected].

All screenshots reproduced with the kind permission of EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO), https://www.ebsco.com/

e-Books

Proquest e-Book Central e-books

Whilst some e-book formats automatically resize on mobile devices, many don’t. If your book doesn’t resize, there are two options for reading on your mobile.

Option 1

Open the online reader menu and use the zoom buttons to increase text size.

Option 2

Click on the Download Book tab underneath an e-book and you’ll be prompted to install Adobe Digital Editions for offline reading (you’ll also need to set up an Adobe ‘pass’ account the first time you use the reader). 

Please note that you will not be able to download e-books if we only have one copy.  If you think we should purchase more copies of a particular title, please do let us know.

Then, choose your device, press I’m using my own computer and Continue.

When prompted to install an e-book reader, press Done with this step, as you should have already installed Adobe Digital Editions.

Choose loan duration and file format (if you have the option to do so) and click Download Your Book. 

Your browser should show your downloaded book. To read it, press Open.

Stat/Ref TDS Health e-books

Stat/Ref TDS Health e-books should resize automatically on your mobile.

RCPharm databases

Likewise, our databases have device detection software which adjusts the interface automatically according to the device being used.

Handling information

• How to search for information
• How to cite information
• Reading information.

Searching for information

Different situations require different forms of evidence. For example, you may require:

• Statistics, e.g. statistics on heart disease in GB
• Numbers, e.g. number of outlets of pharmacy chains in GB
• Medical/academic, e.g. information about the treatment of eczema.

Which information resources?

This depends upon what you are researching. You may want to find:

• Health statistics
• Studies/trials
• Journal articles
• Legal information
• Government publications
• Theses
• Conference proceedings.

Handling information

Procedure

Always follow the same procedure:

• Work out exactly what you are researching
• Formulate your question/hypothesis or theory and write it down
• Think about parameters.

If working on a set assignment, make sure you understand what is being asked of you:

• Ask your supervisor
• Reread seminar/lecture notes for pointers
• Check your Virtual Learning Environment (e.g. Moodle / Blackboard / Canvas) at University for any additional information posted by your lecturer.

Where to start looking

If you are linked to an academic institution, check their catalogues and speak to a subject librarian.

NHS employees can access journal articles and other resources via their Open Athens account.

If using the RCPharm Library, search across our two databases:

1. MEDLINE Complete
2. Biomedical Reference Collection.

If we don’t have the articles you need, ask us to try to obtain them for you via interlibrary loan.

Search our library catalogue and our e-Library.

For charges, please click here

Where to look

• Check reference lists and bibliographies in useful books/articles for additional sources of information
• See the ‘useful websites’ section at the end of this resource for some useful sites for accessing ‘grey’ literature.

Grey Literature Definition

‘That which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers.’

(Fourth International Conference on Grey Literature: New Frontiers in Grey Literature. GreyNet, Grey Literature Network Service. Washington D.C. USA, 4-5 October 1999).

Using our databases to find journal articles

• Identify keywords
• Use wildcards, truncation and Boolean Logic when searching
• Keep a record of how you are constructing the search/limiting the results
• Keep a record of the results, including search history.

See our Navigate the New Interface and Search our Databases guides for more information on using RCPharm Library databases.

Using our databases

• Choose your keywords
• Use several and experiment
• A particular keyword might retrieve many hits on one database and fewer on another.
• Find synonyms
• Combine keywords using Boolean Logic (AND, OR, NOT) 
•  You can limit results by year, age, gender, geography etc.

Example:

You have a vague idea of what you are researching

e.g., You want to look at vitamins.

But a simple search on a database returns thousands of results.

e.g., 390,138 results across our databases, using the search term vitamins.

You need to be more specific. You might want to know more about the effect of vitamin supplements on heart health. And you might want to refine the search even further: – Concentrating on one segment of the population – e.g. the elderly.

174 results across our databases using search terms Heart health AND vitamin* AND (effect OR impact OR influence).

18 results across our databases using search terms Heart health AND vitamin* AND (effect OR impact OR influence), and limiting search to 65+ years.

Handling results

Having conducted your literature search, you need to manage results.

Why does it matter? If you don’t take note of what you retrieved and from where, you might be in danger of plagiarism.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is usually the result of bad note-taking.

To avoid plagiarism:

• Allow yourself enough time
• Mark which passages/results you have copied from somewhere else and which are your own and include page numbers
• Write down the full reference now to avoid extra work later.

Referencing

You can use bibliographic referencing software. If you belong to an academic institution, you will have access to bibliographic management software such as RefWorks and Endnote. If not, you can use software like Mendeley or JabRef; both are free to download from the internet.

In which format should you cite references?

The two popular styles in pharmacy are Harvard and Vancouver

Your academic institution/publisher will tell you which style you need to use and will give examples. (There are usually variations to individual styles across institutions).

If studying at a university, follow the examples given on the library’s webpages exactly, including punctuation.

Otherwise, see ‘Useful Websites’ below for a selection of useful referencing guides.

Harvard example – journal article (print):

In-text reference: Brazil (2016, p.213) states that ‘…’

Reference list:

Brazil, R., 2016. Professional Associations: adapting to remain relevant in a digital age. The Pharmaceutical Journal, 297, pp.212-215.

(with Harvard, the reference list is ordered alphabetically by author)

Vancouver example – journal article (print):

In-text reference:

As Brazil (1) states ‘…’ (p.213)

Reference list: (1)Brazil, Rachel. Professional Associations: adapting to remain relevant in a digital age. Pharm J. 2016;297:212-215.

With Vancouver, each work has a unique number, according to the order in which it was first cited; for example (1) shows that this article from PJ was the first work cited. (1) will continue to be used if the article is cited again. The reference list is ordered numerically according to when each work first appeared in the text.

Reading your literature

Does the book or article fit your research interest?

• Look at list of contents or abstract.
• Was the article peer reviewed?
• Has the book been reviewed in relevant journals?

Reading a research article

• Look at the abstract
• Look at the way the authors designed the study:
  • Is the purpose of the study clear?
  • What is being studied?
  • How have participants been selected and how many are there?
  • How has the study been set up? (i.e. Has an appropriate control group been used?)

Look at results:

• How were results analysed?
• Was a good description of analytical processes provided?
• Were the analytical processes appropriate to the material – e.g. Were statistics used for quantitative data?
• Did conclusions and data match up? If not, why not?

For in-depth guidance see:

‘How to Read a Paper: The basics of evidence-based medicine and healthcare’ which is available in our e-book collection.

and

our Science & Research team’s research and evaluation resource

Useful websites

Data & Statistics

• Data published by Government departments
• NHS Digital
• The Office for National Statistics
• The World Bank
• The OECD

Government publications

• Government Publications

Some useful sites for finding ‘Grey’ literature

• OpenGrey European database– bibliographical references to multidisciplinary grey literature.
• Turning Research into Practice (TRIP)- a clinical database, including research papers.

Clinical Trials

• EU Clinical Trials Register
• International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP)
• Be Part of Research website has information about clinical trials and other research from several different UK registers.
• US ClinicalTrials – a registry of worldwide clinical trials

References to conference papers

• Google Scholar – search by keyword; add ‘conference’ and the year to your search
• Web of Science – includes a conference proceedings’ citation index from 1990 – check whether your institution subscribes
• Try searching individual databases for conference abstracts
• Check the websites of our affiliated partners for conference abstracts
• Theses: The British Library’s e-Theses Online Service (EThOS)

Referencing

Always follow your university’s/institution’s guidelines.
If submitting a paper to a journal, always check their guidelines.
Otherwise, see links to useful referencing guides below.

Vancouver

• Imperial College – Vancouver reference list

Harvard

UWE – Harvard referencing

Leeds University – Harvard referencing

Glasgow Caledonian University – Harvard referencing

Where can you can find high-quality, free information on the internet?

RCPharm website

The RCPharm website includes good-quality, free information for members.

NHS Resources

NHS Choices: the UK’s largest health website

• Directory of NHS services (including pharmacies)
• ‘Care and support’ guide
• ‘Behind the headlines’ (background information to health stories)
• ‘Health A – Z’ (information on conditions and treatments).

Specialist Pharmacy Service

• Information about medicines – including new medicines, shortages and discontinuations
• Regulatory advice, policy, guidance etc.

Medicines Information

Electronic Medicines Compendium (eMC)

Up-to-date information about medicines licensed for use in the UK.

• Summaries of Product Characteristics (SPCs)
• Patient Information Leaflets (PILs).

Children’s medicines

Medicines for Children

A useful site to which to direct parents.

• Medicines information leaflets
• How to administer different types of medicine.

Medicines in pregnancy

Best Use of Medicines in Pregnancy (BUMPS)

The site is provided by the UK Teratology Information Service (UKTIS): a not-for-profit organisation funded by Public Health England.

Includes leaflets about the effects that medicines used during pregnancy might have on babies.

Veterinary Medicines

National Office of Animal Health (NOAH)

Includes NOAH datasheet compendium.

Travel health

National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC)

Guidance on travel health for healthcare professionals advising the public

• Travel-health information with information for individual countries and global health issues
• Clinical resources for health professionals who administer the yellow fever vaccine

Free databases

Cochrane Library includes six databases which include different types of evidence:

NHS Economic Evaluation Database (EED).

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR)

Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)

Cochrane Methodology Register (CMR)

Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE)

Health Technology Assessment Database (HTA)

Points to consider when evaluating online information.

Unlike information in peer-reviewed journals or academic texts, information on the web is not checked for its accuracy, so it’s important to critically assess information you find there.

Content

• Information should be balanced and presented in a logical way and at an appropriate level. Avoid sites using emotive language.
• Look for confirmation that information is accurate – such as references to data and findings.
• Look for evidence of peer/editorial review – not always available, although some sites have an editorial board which reviews content.
• Look for editorial policy – often found in the ‘about us’ section of the site.
• Verify information against other sources – such as content in current journals, reports, published statistics etc.
• Is the information free of grammatical/spelling mistakes?

Authority

• Who has produced the content? Is it an academic institution, a government site, a professional organisation?
• Is it easy to find out who is responsible? Is there an ‘about us’ section?
• Has the website been produced by a reputable organisation?
• If the information has been produced by an individual, is the author recognised in his/her field? – Look up the author’s name in a database like Pubmed to see what papers he/she has written; or enter the name of the author in a search engine; or check biographical sources. Check the author’s qualifications.
• Can you contact the author/organisation? – Contact information, such as e-mail address, should be easily available to the reader. Look at the domain for clues: .gov = government body .ac / .edu = educational .org = non-profit organisations/professional associations .com / .co

Information Currency

• How up-to-date is the information? Content can give an indication of currency, e.g. ‘According to the 2023 study, …’
• When was the website last updated?
• Check copyright dates – Check the bottom of webpages for copyright information.
• Check information included on the website against other current work in the field.

Purpose

Who is the intended audience? Is it produced for scholarly use or for the general public?

References

• Are cited sources clearly listed?
• Are references from reputable sources?
• Site organisation
• Is the site easy to navigate?
• Is information provided as to how resources that the site links to are selected?

Reference List:

Abate M.A., Blommel M.L., 2013. Drug information and literature evaluation, Remington Education. London: Pharmaceutical Press

Craan, F., Oleske, D.M., 2002. Medical information and the internet: Do you know what you are getting? Journal of Medical Systems, [e-journal] 26(6). Available through: RCPharm e-Library