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Health Information Sources & Searching

A guide to finding, identifying, and critically appraising health information.

Basic Database Searching

A basic search, also called a quick and dirty search, may be a good starting point for your research.

How to perform a basic search:

  1. Add one term from each concept to the search box
  2. Try multiple searches using different combinations of terms
  • SEARCH 1: minorities AND screening AND prostate cancer
  • SEARCH 2: African Americans AND detection AND prostate cancer
  • SEARCH 3: Hispanics AND tests AND prostate tumors

Limitations

Basic searches can be time-intensive because you must run multiple searches for each concept and topic. Consider the advanced search approach to save time and be more comprehensive.

Searching Google? 

Visit the Database Searching Tips tab and scroll down to the Additional Tips box to learn how to create a more focused Google search.