Topic 2

• Information Literacy can be defined as the set of skills needed to locate, retrieve, assess and use information to solve problems and become independent lifelong learners and is an essential skill set for the 21st century
• The need for information literacy


  • Recognise a need for information
  • Determine the extent of information needed
  • Access information efficiently
  • Critically evaluate information and its sources
  • Classify, store, manipulate and redraft information
  • Incorporate selected information into knowledge
  • Use information effectively
  • Understand economic, legal, social, political and cultural issues
  • Access and use information ethically and legally
  • Use information and knowledge for participative citizenship and social responsibility
  • Experience information literacy
• Why information literacy is important in nursing

  • Effectively use information technology
  • Use appropriate tools to find information quickly and easily
  • Evaluate the quality of the information retrieved
  • Critically evaluate and apply knowledge gained
• Information literacy skills

  • Researching and locating information in databases and websites
  • Evaluating sources of information to determine if they are relevant, reliable and credible
  • Respecting intellectual property to avoid plagiarism
  • Referencing and citing
  • Reflecting on our own learning processes
  • Thinking critically
• Physical libraries


  Physical repository of information
• Virtual libraries


  Online repository of information
• How the modern library is organised

  1. Physical layout

  2. Functions

  3. Services provided

  4. Access to and use of the library
• Library catalogues


  Indexes, abstracts and databases used to organise library information
• Dewey Decimal Classification


  First published in 1876, the world's most widely used library classification system, organised by disciplines or fields of study
• Library of Congress (LC) Classification System

  Developed by the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, 21 categories represented by letters of the alphabet
• Where is the evidence located?

  • Databases (e.g. CINAHL, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI))
  • Grey literature (e.g. Technical reports, Government reports, Policy statements, Business documents, Conference proceedings, Theses and dissertations)
• Advantages of electronic healthcare databases


  • Online
  • A wider range of electronic databases
  • Remote access
  • Convenient
  • Time saving
• Nursing key databases


  • CINAHL Complete
  • Cochrane Library
  • Informit
  • JBI EBP database
  • Medline
  • Nursing Education in Video
  • Emcare
  • ProQuest
  • PebMed
  • Scopus
  • PsycINFO
• CINAHL


  Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, includes indexing for >5,000 journals, provides full text articles for >1,300 journals, focus on nursing, midwifery, allied health and psychosocial issues
• Medline/PubMed


  PubMed is the free internet version of Medline, greater focus on biomedicine and health, citation database containing >21 million citations
• Types of grey literature

  • Technical reports
  • Government reports
  • Policy statements
  • White papers
  • Posters
  • Newsletters
  • Conference proceedings
  • Theses and dissertations
• Examples of grey literature


  • Mobile apps
  • PubMed PMC Bookshelf Search
  • Researcher: Academic Journals
  • EBSCO Mobile
  • Nursing Reference Center Plus
• Internet domains


  Domain-naming system provides a method of managing the names of networks and computers on the internet: an address system, organisational name is the top-level domain, also have country top-level domains
• Internet domain suffixes and usage

  • .com (Commercial organisations)
  • .edu (Educational organisations)
  • .gov (Government)
  • .org (Non-profit organisations)
  • .net (Network resources)
• CRAAP test

  Evaluation tool for websites: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose
• Useful evidence-based practice sites

  • Cochrane Collaboration
  • Excellence in Research Australia
  • Joanna Briggs Institute
  • Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP)
  • National Institute of Clinical Studies
  • GRADE
• Successful searching strategies

  1. Clearly define search

  2. Identify key search terms

  3. Choose appropriate resources

  4. Choose appropriate databases

  5. Place limits on search

  6. View search results
• PICOT/PICO


  Tool to develop an answerable research question: Patient/Problem, intervention, comparison, outcomes, & time
• PEO


  Tool to develop an answerable research question: population, exposure and outcome
• SPIDER


  Tool to develop an answerable research question: sample, phenomenon of interest, design, evaluation and research type
• Types of clinical questions

  • Intervention
  • Meaning
• PICOT

  P - Patient/Population/Problem

  I - Intervention

  C - Comparison

  O - Outcome

  T - Time
• PICOT examples

  • In patients living in a long-term care facility who are at risk for pressure ulcers (P), how does a pressure ulcer prevention program (I) compared to the standard of care (e.g., turning every 2 hours) (C) affect signs of emerging pressure ulcers (O)?

  What is the experience of living in a long-term care facility (O) among middle-aged residents (P) with disability (I)?
• Intervention questions


  Questions about what intervention most effectively leads to an outcome in sick patients/patients suffering from some conditions
• Prognosis/prediction questions


  Questions about what the probable cause of a patient's disease is or the likelihood that the person will develop an illness
• Diagnosis questions


  Questions about what test most accurately diagnoses an outcome
• Etiology questions


  Questions about to what extent a factor, process or condition is highly associated with an outcome
• Meaning questions


  Questions about patients' experiences and concerns
• Key search terms

  • Keywords, alternative keywords, truncation, wildcards
• Boolean operators


  AND, OR, NOT - used to combine or exclude keywords in a search
• Medical subject headings (MeSH)

  Controlled vocabulary used in MEDLINE/PubMed and CINAHL subject headings
• Primary literature


  Documents or records that report on a study, experiment, trial or research project
• Secondary literature


  Literature that summarizes and draws conclusions from a number of primary studies
• Literature reviews are a secondary source
• Databases

  • CINAHL

  MEDLINE/PubMed

  Cochrane Library

  PsycINFO

  Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI)

  ProQuest Health & Medical complete

  Scopus