Expert Research Tip: Diversify

As a regular feature on this blog, I will share an "expert research tip."  These "tips" are the sorts of helpful hints that I normally mention in one-on-one research consultations as I'm helping a researcher think through his/her search strategies and goals.  For this first expert research tip, I'm going to tackle one of the biggest problems that I see from my seat at the reference desk.

Do not rely on just one, single database during your research (even if it's a really good one).


It's understandable that a researcher may become comfortable with a particular database and tend to focus on using that resource rather than trying out new or unfamiliar ones.  However, there are several reasons why using a variety of databases can be an extremely valuable research tactic for you HNFE folks.

1.  All information isn't stored in one place.  If you only use one database (e.g., PubMed), you are ignoring potentially relevant journals and other publications that have been indexed in other databases.  These publications could be valuable to your research, so don't exclude them just because they're not part of your favorite database.

2.  The interdisciplinary nature of scholarship.  Research used and created by those of you in Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise can rarely be categorized within one area of research.  When studying, for example, behavioral interventions for physical activity and nutrition, many areas of research converge.  You're looking at aspects of psychology, sociology, biology, medicine, environment, and more.  Many databases are pretty subject-specific, so if you focus your search in one of these databases, you may be missing some very relevant information.  Brainstorming potentially relevant areas of research can lead you to new resources--such as PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, and AGRICOLA--that will ultimately strengthen and round out your research.

3.  Database organization & controlled vocabularies.  Different databases organize information in different ways, and even use different vocabularies (subject headings, or tags) to help you find the information.  PubMed, for example, uses Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) to organize its information, which represent different terms than those used by ISI Web of Science or CINAHL.  When you visit different databases and gather different terminology that gets at the concept you're researching, you automatically build a larger vocabulary bank that can help you widen your search and find articles that your original search terms may have excluded.

4.  It is now possible to search multiple databases simultaneously.  And, it's easy.  Although we (the Libraries) don't offer one search box for all of our databases, we're getting pretty close.  If you're interested in discovering how to do this, check out the VT Libraries page devoted to this:  http://www.lib.vt.edu/find/federated/.  It offers directions and helpful hints for navigating this type of research.

In my next post, I will offer a tutorial on using Google Scholar to access journal articles and other full-text information resources offered by VT Libraries.  Google Scholar may have its downsides, but it can be awfully helpful in finding information in places that you may not have thought to look.