To find an answer or a solution you need to define the question or problem you are trying to fix.
Before beginning any information search, you should be absolutely clear about what it is you're looking for – a little planning at the start can save time and effort later in the process ie it means knowing the right question.
Use these few basic questions to get started:
For a quick overview, see our interactive Search Tips guide, then use the sections below for more in-depth advice and the eLearning modules.
The purpose is important as this dictates your approach, how comprehensive your search needs to be and how much information you expect to find. For example, a search to find a quick answer to the meaning of a word is very different to starting a research project. It is also helpful to think about who is going to read your results.
Do you want to:
Whatever your purpose, you need to plan your search.
Once you have thought about the purpose, you need to plan your search.
This is one of the most important steps in information searching: you have to ask the right question(s) to get the right answer(s). The more careful you are in wording your question, the more likely it is that your search will return results you can use - the number of irrelevant items recovered will be smaller and this means that you'll spend less time sifting though results-lists to find what you need.
Start by breaking your question down into concepts and component parts. There are frameworks that can help you do this. These can look complicated, but remember not every question will have all the components. Each framework is designed to support different types of questions by suggesting ways to break them down into concepts and key terms.
Download a useful handout describing these and other tools including some examples.
In healthcare, you may use PICO analysis at the question stage of the process:
P - Patient, problem or population - the person presenting the problem, the problem itself or the population to which the patient belongs.
I - (Proposed) Intervention - an action proposed in response to the problem. This may be a drug, a surgical procedure or other form of treatment.
C - Comparison (intervention) - the current treatment.
O - Outcome - the anticipated result(s) of the proposed intervention.
In service improvement, you may find ECLIPS useful:
E - Expectation : the wanted improvement or innovation or information
C - Client Group : those for whom the service is designed
L - Location : where the service is to be delivered
I - Impact : What change is sought? What would constitute success?
P - Professionals : those involved in delivering or developing the service
S - Service : which service are you looking to develop?
For synthesising qualitative evidence, SPICE may help:
S - Setting : the context of the search. The research evidence should reflect the context or the research findings may not be transferable.
P - Perspective : Who are the users, potential users, or stakeholders of the (proposed or existing) service?
I - Intervention : What is being done for the users, potential users, or stakeholders?
C - Comparison : What are the alternatives? An alternative might be to change nothing.
E - Evaluation : What measurement will determine the intervention’s success? What is the result?
After carefully formulating your search question, the next step is to think about the search words you will use to find the information you need.
Which words in your search are 'key' to identifying needed information? Identifying these 'key words' will help you retrieve relevant information.
It can be helpful to draw up a table or a list of the key words in your question, together with some alternative terms. The reason for this is that information sources may use different words in their descriptions of the same thing. For exmple, there are differences in spelling between UK and US English so this can help you cut down on search time and make sure you don't miss anything important.
Examples:
Colour & color
Anaesthesia & anesthesia
Paediatric & pediatric
Below is an example of a possible search question and its associated keyword and alternatives table.
Search Question:
I need to find evidence supporting the theory that rural isolation is a risk factor in stillbirth and infant death
| Keywords | Synonyms/alternative terms |
|---|---|
| rural | remote, isolated |
| stillbirth | death, mortality |
| infant | baby, newborn, neonate |
Within each concept you will have a number of key words which describe the concept - you need to use OR to search for these as you will want to find all resources which use any of these terms.
To link your concepts, use AND, as you are looking for resources which include both concepts.
There is more information in the 'How to search' page
Whatever source you use (even Google!) there are advantages to using the 'advanced search' option if it is available, as this will often make it easier to include your alternative terms and different concepts. Many sources offer help and guidance for searching and this can include shortcuts and tricks to improve your search.