The default search covers title, abstract and keywords, but click on the drop down box to choose other criteria including author or source.

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1 Library Guide How to use the Cochrane Library The Cochrane library is the main output of the Cochrane Collaboration and aims to bring together in one place reliable information about the effects of health care treatments or interventions. The Cochrane Collaboration was originally established in Adelaide and now operates worldwide. The Cochrane Library is a collection of seven evidence based healthcare databases enabling you to make informed decisions about health care. These databases can be searched simultaneously. They are updated quarterly and include a glossary and other evidence based resources. Access Go to the Library Homepage at / Click on the link for Databases & Article Searching (under Information Resources) Scroll down to Databases by title and click on C Scroll down to Cochrane Library and click to connect. Searching SEARCHING BY KEYWORD OR PHRASE Type a keyword or phrase in the Search box The default search covers title, abstract and keywords, but click on the drop down box to choose other criteria including author or source. Click Search tips To combine terms use the operators: AND, NOT, OR to narrow or broaden your search o eg. prostatectomy not incontinence. (upper or lower case). Use * to search for multiple characters before, within or after a search string eg *natal, wom*n or tonsil* Use? to search for single characters in a search string, eg tumor? Use near/2 to find words within 2 words of each other eg ovarian near/2 cancer

2 When searching Cochrane Library you are searching across 7 databases. Complete reviews CDSR Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Over 3500 full-text systematic literature reviews researching the effects of health care treatments and interventions. The reviews are highly structured and systematic, with evidence included or excluded on the basis of explicit quality criteria, to minimise bias. Data are often combined statistically (in what is called a metaanalysis) to increase the power of the findings of numerous studies, each too small to produce reliable results individually. Protocols information about reviews in preparation, including the background, rationale and methods. Other Reviews - Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) Abstracts of other published reviews prepared by people outside of the Cochrane Collaboration. Clinical Trials - Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Central) This is a bibliographic database of controlled trials. The register provides bibliographic information (i.e. abstracts rather than full-text) for more than 350,000 reports of trials identified by contributors to the Cochrane Collaboration. Methods Studies - Cochrane Methodology Register (CMR) Where to find studies which look at the science of systematic reviewing. Technology Assessments - Health Technology Assessment Database (HTA) These assessments look at the medical, social, ethical & economic implications of health technologies (e.g. pharmaceuticals, vaccines, medical and surgical procedures) with a view to informing policy decisions. HTA includes completed and ongoing assessments. Economic Evaluations - NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHSEED) NHSEED contains abstracts of full economic evaluations. These are studies in which a comparison of two or more treatments or care alternatives is undertaken and in which both the costs and outcomes of the alternatives are examined. 2

3 RESULTS LIST The search results for each record include the document title, author, and year of publication. Records also display or to indicate whether the document is a review or protocol. Note that a protocol describes a review to be; or in the process of being undertaken. No abstract will be available. Some document listings also display whether the record is, a, or a, contains a,or the. is a systematic review of methodological studies. The default search results display the Cochrane reviews, but at the top there are links to results from the other databases if available (these don t include full-text). Other Reviews covers results from the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects; these are reviews quality assessed and summarised prior to being carried out by the Cochrane Collaboration. Clinical Trials covers results from the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; this includes details of published articles taken from bibliographic databases (notably MEDLINE and EMBASE), and other published and unpublished sources. Click to see the abstract and plain language summary, or PDF to see the full text of the review. 3

4 ADVANCED SEARCH The Advanced Search feature allows you to search for only the latest reviews, or specific reviews where the author and keywords are known. Click directly under the Search box. Use the drop down boxes to search in each field Nominate which Cochrane product/s you wish to search Choose a preferred record status or date range Click on Printing/ Saving To print or save a complete Review or Protocol o display it in PDF format first, then o click the Print or Save icon in the PDF toolbar at the top of the document. Exporting records To export individual citations, o tick the box to the left of the record/s o Scroll to the bottom of the results list and click to save record/s to a file. To export all o Exporting up to 25 records, scroll to the bottom of the results list and click then save record/s to a file. o If more than 25 records choose : Click to export all results then save to a file. Logging out Please close the Cochrane Library window to log out of this database by clicking top right. at 4

5 Library Guide