There are many ways for you to access information  and seek assistance from the University Libraries.  Inquiries can be make in person or from a remote location.  As members of the University at Buffalo student community you are eligible to use the vast array of resources the Libraries make available.

For help you can:

• Contact the School of Nursing Library Liaison via email or phone
• Contact Health Sciences via email ASK a Librarian
• Contact University Libraries Chat - ASK a Librarian
• Visit the Library and ask for OnCall Librarian

• Gain background and knowledge information on clinical issue
• Understand the context of the clinical issue
• Identify relevant terminology and gain clarity about its use
• Validate and support colleague discussions
• Be better prepared to converse with patients and families
• Understand that evidence is essential for conducting good quality research
• Remain current 

Search vs. Research

• Search is trying to find information by looking or seeking carefully and thoroughly.
• Research is the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and new research conclusions.

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

• Primary source is an original document or object, something that was created or written during the time it is being researched. (e.g. dissertation, experiment, clinical trials, interview, journal article of original research, patient care records, statistics, presentation, etc.)
• Secondary source interprets and analyzes a primary source ( e.g. bibliographies, books that discuss or analyze a topic, textbooks, commentaries, criticisms, index and abstracts, journal articles that discuss or interpret previous research, reviews of the literature, etc.)

Database vs. Search Engine vs. Browser

• Database is a large amount of information stored in a computer system.
  • Data systems, statistics (e.g. Excel, Access, SPSS, etc.)
  • Bibliographic - Index & Abstracts (e.g. PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, etc)  Google Scholar provides online information crawling for individual papers not by indexing journals.
• Search Engine is a software program that searches for a document on the Internet using specific keywords (e.g. Google.com, Yahoo.com, etc)
• Browser is software installed on your local device that accesses websites and web pages (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.)

Several questions to ask to determine the creditability of a website:

1. Who is sponsoring the website?
2. How often is the site updated?
3. Does the site present facts and not opinion?
4. Who is the intended audience?

Resources to assist in evaluating Web creditability:

• Medical Library Association Find Good Health Information, Guidelines for Evaluating Content.
• Evaluating Internet Health Information: a tutorial from the National Library of Medicine
• MedlinePlus Guide to Healthy Web Surfing