Graduate Nursing and DNP Students' Guide to McKillop Library: Overview

Identify language used for your topic by topic experts

Your list of results can be as useful as the articles and books themselves. While you’re scanning the results of your search, look for the specific words or phrases used to describe various aspects of your topic. Make note of new vocabulary, and use those new words or phrases to rework your search. See if this more targeted search strategy impacts your results.

Find the subject headings, or controlled vocabulary, for your topic

Before revising your search, consider examining subject headings: review your initial result list of books or articles. If you find a really good one, look for its subject headings (specific terms used to describe the work) to quickly lead you to more relevant articles on the topic. Subject headings are found in the record of the source, and are often hyperlinked in library and article databases. Ask a librarian if you’re having trouble finding the subject headings.

Make use of citation chaining

• To move back in time to trace the development of a topic or idea: Bibliography, hyperlinks, or footnotes
  • Look at what your article/report/page is citing, find those sources. Look at what that article/ report/page cites, find those sources, and so on.
• To move forward in time from your source to see who else has found this source useful: Google Scholar “cited by”
  • Find a key article in Google Scholar and click on “cited by” to see who has quoted that article since it was written.

Identify key organizations

Look at the lead organizations for your issue, find everything they’ve published on your topic, monitor their publications, and identify their experts on staff. Follow their social media feeds or blog posts.

Begin to identify key experts in your subject area

Do certain researchers' names come up again and again? Do an author search to find everything that person has written.

Consider contacting experts

Ask specific questions about your topic for information that is not yet published. Follow their social media feeds or blog posts.