Searching the literature

Finding literature means learning enough about a subject to search it, locating relevant records and obtaining the sources they describe. The parts divide by the search task: orientation, search construction, tool assessment, access and keeping current. Document planning, specialist sources, interviews, source management and citation, systematic-review methods, AI-assisted retrieval and publishing access models belong to neighbouring concerns.

• Orienting in an unfamiliar subject before searching — establishing scope and vocabulary through public overviews and subject resources, and learning how drugs are developed
• Building a literature search — terms, Boolean logic and tool syntax, changing interfaces, site-specific searches and fields without a comprehensive database
• Judging a search tool or a clinical resource before you rely on it — assessing scope, results, ranking, term mapping, traceability and access across scholarly and clinical resources
• Reaching sources without a subscription — free copies, libraries, authors, purchase and delivery, membership access and medical librarians
• Keeping up with a literature — alerts, feeds, digests, filters, reviews and colleagues, and choosing systems and a reading frequency that fit the work