1. Information skills for DL Infectious Diseases
students
Six steps to an effective literature search
Library & Archives Service
www.lshtm.ac.uk/library

2. Dophil Maternity and Nursing Home, nr Siaya, W. Kenya
by Moving Mountains Trust
http://www.flickr.com/photos/movingmountainstrust/505063
4424/
Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence

3. Six steps to an effective literature search:
• Scoping your search topic
1.
• Choosing the resources to search
2.
• Choosing your search terms
3.
• Compiling your search strategy and running your search
4.
• Finding the full text
5.
• Managing your information
6

4. • Scoping your search topic
1.
• Choosing the resources to search
2.
• Choosing your search terms
3.
• Compiling your search strategy and running your search
4.
• Finding the full text
5.
• Managing your information
6

5. What do you want the literature
to tell you?
Ask questions…
Question x4 by Mike Coghlan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/4256561918/
Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence

6. • Scoping your search topic
1.
• Choosing the resources to search
2.
• Choosing your search terms
3.
• Compiling your search strategy and running your search
4.
• Finding the full text
5.
• Managing your information
6

7. Search engines
• Includes Google
• Good for grey literature
• Can return thousands of
results
• No quality control
• Gives full text
• Covers all subject areas
and types of information
• Free

8. Databases
• Includes PubMed
• Good for academic
literature
• Items are chosen to be
included
• Usually only gives an
abstract
• Covers a specific subject
area and type of information
• Often need to subscribe

9. Doesn’t PubMed has all the
information I need?
All academic peer-reviewed
literature
All biomedical academic
PubMed
peer-reviewed literature

10. Doesn’t PubMed contain all of
Embase?
Only 15% of titles
Global Health are found in all
three databases
3235
380 306
1520
1533 1586
Figures reproduced with permission from
www.cabi.org. Global health: solving local problems
1411 with global information. Figure 1. Online at:
http://www.cabi.org/Uploads/ProductAdmin/a832dacf
Medline Embase -4063-4669-9c1f-4023856fa767.pdf

11. So, how many databases should I
search?
Background MSc MSc PhD
search dissertation dissertation • As many as are
• 1 or 2 (primary (secondary practicable
research) research)
• 3 or 4 • 4 or 5
This is a general guideline only. The number of resources to
search is dependent on the scope of your search

12. • Scoping your search topic
1.
• Choosing the resources to search
2.
• Choosing your search terms
3.
• Compiling your search strategy and running your search
4.
• Finding the full text
5.
• Managing your information
6

13. Identifying your concepts
What subjects must items you find address in
order to answer your search question?
Which interventions are the most effective at
preventing maternal transmission of HIV?
Dophil Maternity and Nursing Home, nr Siaya, W. Kenya
by Moving Mountains Trust
http://www.flickr.com/photos/movingmountainstrust/505063
4424/
Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence

14. Using synonyms
US and UK Abbreviations
US and UK spellings terminology (acquired
(behavior and (physiotherapist and immunodeficiency
behaviour) physical therapist) syndrome and AIDS)
Generic and trade
Different word Diseases and
names of drugs
endings disease vectors
( Fluoxetine and
(climate and climatic) (dengue and aedes)
Prozac)

15. Which interventions are the
most effective at preventing
maternal transmission of HIV?
Maternal transmission HIV
• vertical transmission • HTLV-III
• maternal transmission • HTLV-III-LAV
• fetal transmission • human immunodeficiency
• foetal transmission virus
• fetomaternal transmission • T-Lymphotropic Virus Type
• mother-to-child III
transmission
• PMTCT
• MTCT
• perinatally acquired

16. What are subject headings?
Indexing terms added to each article by the database
compilers NOT the author
Terms are chosen from a pre-defined list, updated annually
Terms are specific to each database
Can help make subject searches more comprehensive

17. Example from Medline®
Myer L, Zulliger R, Black S, Pienaar D, Bekker LG. Pilot programme for
the rapid initiation of antiretroviral therapy in pregnancy in Cape Town,
South Africa. AIDS Care 2012; 24(8): 986-92.
Adult Pilot Projects
*Anti-HIV Agents / administration & dosage Pregnancy
CD4 Lymphocyte Count *Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / drug
Female therapy
*HIV Infections / drug therapy *Prenatal Care / organization &
HIV Infections / transmission administration
Humans South Africa
*Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Young Adult
prevention & control

18. Subject tree for HIV Infections in
Medline®
• Diseases
– Virus Diseases
• RNA Virus Infections
– Retroviridae Infections
» Lentivirus Infections
• HIV Infections
• Acquired Immunodeficiency
Syndrome
• AIDS Arteritis, Central Nervous
System
• AIDS-Associated Nephropathy
• AIDS Dementia Complex
• AIDS-Related Complex
• AIDS-Related Opportunistic
Infections
• HIV-Associated Lipodystrophy
Syndrome
• HIV Enteropathy
• HIV Seropositivity
• HIV Wasting Syndrome

19. Exploding your subject
• Diseases
– Virus Diseases
• RNA Virus Infections
– Retroviridae Infections
» Lentivirus Infections
• HIV Infections
• Acquired Immunodeficiency
Syndrome
• AIDS Arteritis, Central Nervous
System
• AIDS-Associated Nephropathy
• AIDS Dementia Complex
• AIDS-Related Complex
• AIDS-Related Opportunistic
Infections
• HIV-Associated Lipodystrophy
Syndrome
• HIV Enteropathy
• HIV Seropositivity
• HIV Wasting Syndrome

20. Focusing your subject
• Adult
• *Anti-HIV Agents / administration &
dosage
• CD4 Lymphocyte Count
• Female
• *HIV Infections / drug therapy
• HIV Infections / transmission
• Humans
• *Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / prevention & control
• Pilot Projects
• Pregnancy
• *Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / drug therapy
• *Prenatal Care / organization & administration
• South Africa
• Young Adult

21. Subheadings
• Adult
• *Anti-HIV Agents / administration & dosage
• CD4 Lymphocyte Count
• Female
• *HIV Infections / drug therapy
• HIV Infections / transmission
• Humans
• *Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / prevention & control
• Pilot Projects
• Pregnancy
• *Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / drug therapy
• *Prenatal Care / organization & administration
• South Africa
• Young Adult

22. • Scoping your search topic
1.
• Choosing the resources to search
2.
• Choosing your search terms
3.
• Compiling your search strategy and running your search
4.
• Finding the full text
5.
• Managing your information
6

23. Using Boolean operators -
OR
Human
immunodeficiency
virus
HIV OR human
immunodeficiency
HTLV-III-
HIV
virus OR HTLV-III OR
LAV
HTLV-III-LAV
HTLV-III

24. Using Boolean operators -
AND
HIV AND maternal
Maternal transmission
HIV
transmission

25. Truncation
• Truncation finds alternative endings to words.
• Enter the beginning of the word, then end with
the truncation symbol (usually *)
Example
You could type in ‘transmission’, ‘transmitted’, ‘transmit’
OR
You could type in ‘transmi*’

26. Wildcards
Optional Compulsory
• Character does • Character DOES
NOT have to be have to be present
present but can be any letter
• Useful for US/UK • Useful for US/UK
spelling spelling
• eg tumo?r • eg organi#e

27. Proximity searching
• Look for words in the same sentence or within n words of
each other
• Useful when the vocabulary used to describe your
subject is variable
Example
You could type in vertical transmission or maternal
transmission or fetal transmission or foetal transmission or
fetomaternal transmission or mother-to-child transmission
OR
You could type in (vertical OR maternal OR fetal OR foetal
OR fetomaternal OR mother-to-child) ADJ3 transmiss*

28. Impact of increased complexity on
comprehensiveness of results
1 Mother-to-child transmission 2,328
2 Mother-to-child transmi* 2,349
3 vertical transmi*or maternal transmi* or fetal transmi*or foetal 2,889
transmi* or fetomaternal transmi* or mother-to-child transmi* or
PMTCT or MTCT or perinatal* acquire*
4 ((vertical OR maternal OR fetal OR foetal OR fetomaternal OR 15,689
mother-to-child) ADJ3 transmi*) OR PMTCT OR MTCT OR
perinatal* acquire*
5 ((vertical OR maternal OR fetal OR foetal OR fetomaternal OR 15,736
mother-to-child) ADJ3 transmi*) OR PMTCT OR MTCT OR
perinatal* acquire* or Infectious Disease Transmission,
Vertical/
Numbers correspond to number of results retrieved from
Ovid MEDLINE® 1946 to September week 4 2012.

29. Putting it all together
1. ((vertical OR maternal OR fetal OR foetal OR fetomaternal
OR mother-to-child) ADJ3 transmiss*) OR PMTCT OR MTCT
OR perinatal* acquire*
2. Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical/
3. 1 OR 2
4. HIV OR HTLV-III OR HTLV-III-LAV OR human
immunodeficiency virus OR T-Lymphotropic Virus Type III
5. HIV Infections/
6. 4 OR 5
7. 3 AND 6

30. • Scoping your search topic
1.
• Choosing the resources to search
2.
• Choosing your search terms
3.
• Compiling your search strategy and running your search
4.
• Finding the full text
5.
• Managing your information
6

31. Why is authentication required?
Cost of electronic Licences limit use
resources linked to current staff
to the number of and students of
users the institution
Allows publishers
and librarians to
analyse usage
patterns

32. Routes to access
Resource specific Institution specific
IP address
password password
Linked to the
Can be used from Can be used from
computer you are
any computer any computer
using
Must be using Requires users to
Users only need
designated remember
to remember one
computer for this multiple
password
to work passwords
The School uses IP addresses and the institutional password
system called Shibboleth. We do NOT use Athens

33. Which password do I use?
The username and password you use to
log on to Moodle / School email
London-based Distance learning
Staff
students students
This is provided by IT
This is provided by IT This is provided by the
Services and is derived
Services and begins University of London
from your department
‘lsh…’ and begins ‘lon…’
and your name

34. • Scoping your search topic
1.
• Choosing the resources to search
2.
• Choosing your search terms
3.
• Compiling your search strategy and running your search
4.
• Finding the full text
5.
• Managing your information
6

35. Help available via
IT Training

36. More help
• Email library@lshtm.ac.uk
• DL staff and students can ask a question on the Moodle
discussion boards

37. Six steps to an effective literature search:
• Scoping your search topic
1.
• Choosing the resources to search
2.
• Choosing your search terms
3.
• Compiling your search strategy and running your search
4.
• Finding the full text
5.
• Managing your information
6