Introduction to Literature Searching

If you want to find the best evidence, then you need to complete a literature search.

You need the best evidence to make clinical decisions, to write assignments, to complete research and to deliver patient care.

Completing a literature search will help you to find the best evidence effectively from the most appropriate resources. Learn how to develop a literature search plan by completing our tutorials.

young students working at computers; young woman looking at you

Complete our tutorials

Start with our interactive tutorial Introduction to Literature Searching. Learn about the steps you need and complete your own plan along the way

Download our Literature Search Plan to keep a record of your own searches

Keele students can complete the Literature Searching in a Nutshell tutorial

Download a reminder and add your own search details to our Literature Searching Overview and Action Plan

Get a quick reminder of all the steps from our Literature Searching Flashcards tutorial

Listen to this podcast from Study Matters for hints and tips on good literature searching from a member of the library team

All our tutorials are freely available, no login required. Complete them at your own pace, whenever you want to. Download the reflection document to keep a record of your learning.

Please make sure you let us know what you think of our tutorials by completing the feedback form.

Try it now

Go straight to our Information Skills eTutorials page on the Health Library website to access all our etutorials.

Need more help?

Please contact the Health Library if you need any help.

Check our Information Skills for Health blog for more news about our etutorials.

Comments

NEW! Search the Health Library website

We've introduced a new feature to help you to find what you need on our website. Use the Health Library search box to find resources, services and training opportunities. Try it now! You'll find a link to the search box on our home page , in the banner. What does it do? This new feature runs a simple search on google. Your search results are limited to the Health Library website and etutorials. Google decides on the relevancy of your results. This search option is good for looking for named resources (such as databases), library services and training opportunities. What doesn't it do? This search option does not search any of our resources. So, it will not find information for your assignments or work such as articles or books - you'll need a database for that. But you can search for a database! What do you think? We're running this as an experiment. What do you think? Is it useful or not? Send any comments, good or bad, to Cheryl, our eresources librarian, at c.ke

Are you an effective searcher? Check your skills here

Are you searching effectively? Do you want to improve your skills? Whether you are looking for articles for your assignments or you need to check the latest evidence for your work, you need to have the right skills Complete our short quiz Check Your Skills and find out what information skills you have and how you can improve them. Answer all the questions and download your action plan to help you to improve.

NHS OpenAthens Updates October 2024

The latest NHS OpenAthens bulletin is now available on the Health Library website. Read this for articles on managing your NHS OpenAthens username, a welcome to new starters, key information on the website, getting your evidence updates and relevant library news. If you have not received your OpenAthens bulletin to your UHNM email inbox please check whether your account can receive external emails. It is important that you can receive emails from OpenAthens in order to maintain your account and continue to access resources. Contact UHNM IT if you are experiencing problems with your email account.

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