This guide is intended to help you with your research. You will find databases, journals, ebooks, and reference books to help you with your research process, or provide background information on physical therapy topics.
Photo credit: 150313-M-TH981-001.JPG by Susan Schultz
The World Confederation for Physical Therapy:
"Physical therapists provide services that develop, maintain and restore people’s maximum movement and functional ability. They can help people at any stage of life, when movement and function are threatened by ageing, injury, diseases, disorders, conditions or environmental factors.
Physical therapists help people maximise their quality of life, looking at physical, psychological, emotional and social wellbeing. They work in the health spheres of promotion, prevention, treatment/intervention, habilitation and rehabilitation."
Here are some recommended resources for use in clinical settings:
Here are some good places to start your research.
Good for: Researching nursing and allied health topics.
Contains: Index of nursing and allied health literature.
Dates covered: 1982-present.
RefWorks
RefWorks is a time-saving tool for busy graduate students. Ref-Works is web-based bibliographic software package that enables you to:
UPDATE: RefWorks-COS is pleased to announce lifelong access to users that are alumni of subscribing institutions. For additional information please visit this link .
Go to the library homepage. https://www.library.unlv.edu/
Click the "Interlibrary Loan" button.
Login with your ACE account.
Requests:
Log into your MY ILL Account, under “New Request” click on the type of material you want (Article, Book, Book Chapter, Conference Paper etc.)
How do I edit a request already submitted?
Why did my article disappear from the list?
There are 2 possibilities:
ILL materials may be renewed once from the original due date, depending the approval of the owning institution. You can request a renewal through your ILL account.
1. Log into your ILL account. Find the title you want to renew. If it is renewable, you should be able to click the "renew" button. If it is not renewable, the button will be in greyscale and disabled.
2. Click on the "Renew" button. If it is too soon to renew, you will see the message.
3. You will receive an automated e-mail within a couple of days notifying you that your renewal is granted or denied. There won't be any overdue fines while you are waiting the auto-email.
To update your ILL account information, select a new pickup location or reset your password:
Log into My ILL Account, under "Profile" you will see the "Update Profile" option.
Select “Change User Information” to edit
Name
Email address
Daytime phone number
Campus affiliation
Customer status
Department
Pickup location
Select "Change Password" to change your password.
This password is specific to the ILL system.
This password is not related to your ACE account password.
You may choose any password or number you wish to use. No password requirement.
If you have forgotten your password:
From My ILL Account, click “Forgot Password?”
Enter your ILL Username and click "Reset Password."
An email will be sent to the email account you entered into your ILL profile.
If you do not receive an email within 10 minutes, contact the ILL office.
Follow the link in the email you receive.
You will be directed to a page where you can reset your password.
If you have forgotten your username:
Contact the Interlibrary Loan office at illiad@unlv.edu or (702) 895-2152 for assistance.
1) How do I transfer a citation from a website to RefWorks?
Here is a video you can watch that will show you how to add references from Google Scholar to RefWorks. If you need further assistance with this please make an appointment with me.
2)How do I narrow down search information without missing good articles? Your search should always begin as broad as possible. If you find that you’re retrieving too many irrelevant hits then revise your search and try again. It takes patience and practice to search, don’t give up. In-library lingo search is often described as an iterative process. To search well requires revising your search statement to retrieve the most precise and relevant results.
3)How to save articles to Mendeley?
Here is a link the Mendeley blog that explains different ways to add articles to Mendeley.
4)How do I search PubMed from inside RefWorks?
The PubMed search inside RefWorks is imperfect. To search PubMed in RefWorks following these steps: Sign into RefWorks; on the left hand side of the screen, select the link for Search Databases, the default Database is PubMed. You can perform your search in the large window.
5)How do I make a bibliography using Mendeley?
Here is a link to a guide created by University of Washington that has good visual examples of how to create a bibliography using Mendeley.
6)How do I use Refworks and Mendeley better?
I recommend selecting one of the tools to use in your research process and try out to determine if it best suits your needs. The one way to get better with any of these tools is to just practice.
7)How do I identify the best source for information?
Identifying the best source of information requires applying your critical thinking skills to verify the source of information. There are a number mnemonics one can apply to an information source. One is the CRA test, where one interrogates the credibility, relevance, and authority of an information source. Critical thinking is the essential tool used to identify the best source of information for a particular purpose.To discuss this further make an appointment with me.
8)How do I choose the best database?
Selecting a database depends on the aims of your research. I recommend becoming familiar with a range of databases that are relevant to your field. There is an easy way to approach this, from the main page of the University Library website, library.unlv.edu, select the All Libraries Databases link. Select, All Subjects, and then select Health Sciences & Medicine, under this link you will find all of the databases relevant to disciplines within the health sciences. Using the resources found at the Health Sciences & Medicine link is the best way to expose yourself to University Library licensed resources. Again, if you have more questions, make an appointment so we can talk further.
9)How do I use citation manager in Mendeley? I’m not sure what you're referring to here.
10)How do I submit an interlibrary loan request? Here is a link to a pictorial tutorial on how to submit an interlibrary loan request from our ILLiad service.
11)How do I search for more articles by broadening the search terms? You can search for more articles by brainstorming synonyms or related terms to broaden your search. Remember, if you use the boolean operator OR between terms, this will broaden your search. For example the search HIV OR HIV+ will broaden your search to capture both terms.
12)How do I know what to change for MeSH terms? The best way to check MeSH terms is to search the MeSH database. Here is a link to the MeSH database, enter your term, and perform a search to determine if your term is a MeSH term.
13)How transport references to EndNote? The University Library does not support EndNote. Please visit the EndNote training channel to learn more about how to use EndNote There is also a guide here with tips for EndNote users.
14)The use of NOT as a boolean term (I’m too cautious to use it). I recommend using caution with the use of the term NOT because you do want to be careful not to eliminate something that might be helpful to your search. Continue to practice caution and use NOT sparingly.
15)How much the order of search terms matters how it affects the search? The order of search terms in a query can affect the search outcome. In some databases, search is done from left to right, so your query results will be based on the search order.
16)I got a little lost on using ILLiad? Take a look at this link to learn more about interlibrary loan.
17) How do I import from PubMed into RefWorks?
Here is a video that explains how to export records from PubMed into RefWorks.
18)How to set up alerts for new articles? Please take a look at the workshop handout, there are detailed instructions to create alerts using several tools. Try this video to learn how to set up alerts!
19)What is MeSH used for?
MeSH is used as the taxonomy that undergirds PubMed and several other databases. MeSH is also used to construct search queries.
20)How is EndNote applicable, I know it is similar to RefWorks, I will be will using EndNote and I’d appreciate practical experience.
The University Library does not support EndNote. Please visit the EndNote training channel to learn more about how to use EndNote There is also a guide here with tips for EndNote users.
21)How does MeSH work exactly? MeSH is the thesaurus that undergirds PubMed, visit the all about MeSH website to learn more!
22)How do I use EndNote? The University Library does not support EndNote.Please visit the EndNote training channel to learn more about how to use EndNote There is also a guide here with tips for EndNote users.
23)How can I understand how RefWorks works completely?
I think the only way to understand RefWorks entirely is to commit to using it as a tool so you will learn the intricacies of RefWorks. Here is a link to a RefWorks guide that will help you learn more.
24)How do I search for specific topics using keywords? In most licensed library resources, you can enter your search string to find information about a specific topic. If you have questions about specific resources, please make an appointment to discuss with me further.
Questions last updated: September 14, 2022
