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Literature Searching for NYP Fellows: Searching beyond PubMed

This page contains learning materials for the literature searching workshop for NYP fellows.

What's on this page

  • Overview
  • Search activity
  • Leveraging UpToDate in your literature search

Overview

Because PubMed only indexes a subset of the medical literature, it can be helpful to supplement your PubMed search with one or more other databases.

The Wood Library subscribes to hundreds of subscription databases. Some are available from the Library homepage under Popular e-Resources (e.g. the Cochrane Library); others can be found by searching the E-Resources tab of the search bar on the homepage. You can search either by subject keywords (e.g. pediatrics) or by database name (e.g. AccessPediatrics).

Email us for help choosing additional databases, help with a search, questions about how to use a database, or to request one-on-one consultation or training. 

Search activity

Try searching one of the following databases on your research topic. As you search, ask the following:

  • Are the search results relevant/what you expected?
  • What ways to filter your search results does the database offer?
  • If you get an error message, does it explain how to fix the error?
  • Does the database offer a search guide, knowledge base, training videos, etc?
  • Were you able to figure out how to export results to a reference manager like EndNote?
  • Is the interface easy to use? Would you use it again?

If you have time, search a second one!

Be prepared to share and discuss your experience with another participant and with the full group. 

Leveraging UpToDate for your literature search

While UpToDate is not a bibliographic database designed for literature searching, it can be a useful tool for literature review on clinical topics, particularly at the very beginning. You can use UpToDate to identify key studies on your topic, locate their references in PubMed, and export them to your reference manager.