As you begin your search for information about your chosen health issue, start brainstorming which terms you could use to describe what interests you the most about your problem.
"Extreme Heat" AND Health: I could use these terms to start looking for information on the health effects of dangerously hot days. The quotation marks tell a search engine to search the words extreme and heat together in that order. The AND lets the search engine know I want both terms in my results.
"heart attack" OR "myocardial infarction": Remember to brainstorm different ways the author of an article might talk about an issue. In this case, heart attack is the more common term, but myocardial infarction is the medical term for the same thing. You can search them independently or use the OR to tell the database that either phrase in your results is acceptable.
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View our FAQsLibrary databases are organized, searchable collections of high-quality articles and other resources. Information in library databases has already been evaluated, so you know the information is credible and reliable.
Every database has a purpose, but some are better suited for health research than others. These databases may be particularly useful to you for this class:
Health and Wellness from Gale is one of the easiest databases to start your research. It contains scholarly articles, topic overviews, encyclopedia articles, persuasive essays, and even videos and graphics for class presentations.
1. Go to Health and Wellness from Gale.
2. Click on Browse Topics and choose your health issue from the list of options.
3. The topic page begins with an overview that will help you understand the most discussed and controversial aspects of your topic.
4. Below the overview are the categories of different sources you could use for your project, such as academic journals, reference articles, videos, etc.
5. When you have chosen a source for your paper, make sure you save it to refer back to later. All Gale databases are fully integrated with Microsoft OneDrive. Just sign into your TCC Microsoft account, and the database will give you the option of saving directly to your OneDrive.
6. The Cite button at the top right of each article or resource will automatically generate an APA citation for you, but remember you will still need to check it over. No automatic citation generator is always accurate.
CINAHL Complete is the major database for nursing and allied health fields.
1. Begin at CINAHL Complete.
2. Enter one search term per box. Using more than one search term will help you narrow your results. If you need more rows, use the plus button to add them.
3. Use the limiters at the top of the page to limit to peer-reviewed journals if needed and to limit by date to get the most current research.
4. Once you find an article you like, make sure you save it to your Microsoft OneDrive or other drive of your choice.
5. The Cite button on the right side of the page will automatically generate an APA citation for you. Remember to double-check it for accuracy!
