Library of the Health Sciences - Urbana

What is CINAHL

(Click here to search Cumulative Index for Nursing and Allied Health Literature - CINAHL)

• Getting into CINAHL
  
• Keyword Searching
  
• Limiting a Search
  
• Author, Title, Journal Searching
  
• Combining Search Sets
  
• Viewing Search Results
  
• Printing Search Results
  
• E-mailing Search Results
  
• Saving Search Results on a Disk
  
• Exiting CINAHL

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Getting into CINAHL

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Keyword Searching

1. Click the mouse so the cursor is in the search box.

2. Type in the term or phrase you wish to search and click on the perform search button.
   The computer will automatically Map Term to Subject Heading, which means it will link your search term or phrase to a related list of suggested subject heading terms and concepts. If these terms or phrases seem more appropriate, you may click on any of those terms. If not, click on the term you typed in, which is at the bottom of the list. However, it is recommended that you use the subject headings when possible.

3. Check the Explode box, if you wish to broaden your search to include related but narrower terms.
   or
   Check the Focus box, if you wish to limit your search to articles or items where your subject is the main topic.
   

4. Click on Continue to go to the next step. Browse the applicable subheadings, and if you want to narrow the search to specific subheading(s), click on the check box to the left of each subheading. You can choose as many subheadings as you want.
   If you do not want to narrow the search, click on "Include all subheadings."
   Click on Continue. This will bring you back to the main search page, and will list the number of items retrieved that match your search request.
   

5. If you have more than one search term or phrase to your query, you can combine your terms or phrases.
   

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Limiting a Search

1. From the main search page, you can limit your search to publication type or publication year(s). If you only want to retrieve research, reviews, consumer health journals or journals with abstracts, simply check the box to the left of each publication type.

   If you want to limit your search to specific publication year, choose the year or range of years from the pull-down menu.

2. Click on the Limit icon (arrow on bull's eye) to limit by:
   • Publication year
     
   • Gender
     
   • Language
     
   • Journal Subsets - Core Nursing Journals, Consumer Health Journals, Biomedical Journals, etc.
     
   • Special Interest Category - Critical Care, Oncologic care, Case Management, etc.
   • Geographic Journal Subsets - African, Canadian, Mexican, etc.
     
   • Age Group - Fetus, Preschool Child, Middle Age, etc.
     
   • Publication Types - Book Chapter, Clinical Trial, Review, etc.
     

3. At the Limit Screen,
   • Click on the years you want to search.
   • Click on the journals you want to search. If more than one, hold down the CTRL and ALT keys at the same time while clicking on each journal.
   • Click on the Publication Types you want to search. Again, if more than one, hold down the CTRL and ALT keys at the same time while clicking on each journal.
   • Click on the Limit button to limit your search to the selections you have chosen.

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Author, Title, and Journal Searching

Author Searching

1. Click on the Author icon on the top left of the search page to search for documents written by a particular person.
2. Click the mouse so the cursor is in the search box.
3. Type in the last name of the author, then a space, and the first initial (if known). Then click on the perform search button.
4. The computer will automatically link to an alphabetical index display of author names that match or that are similar to the one you are searching for. Click on the checkboxes next to the applicable names.
5. Click on the perform search button at the top of the page.
6. You can also limit your author search.

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Title Searching

1. Click on the Title icon at the top left of the page to search for documents that contain a specified word or phrase in the title field.
2. Click the mouse so the cursor is in the search box.
3. Type in the word or phrase to be searched and click on the perform search button.
4. You can also limit your title search.

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Journal Searching

1. Click on the Journal icon on the top of the page to search for documents in a specific journal.
2. Click the mouse so the cursor is in the search box.
3. Type in the first few words of a journal title, omitting the first word if it is "A", "An" or "The". Then click on the perform search button.
4. The computer will automatically link to an alphabetical index display of journal titles that match or are similar to the one you are searching for. Click on the checkboxes next to the applicable journal names.
5. Click on the perform search button at the top of the page.
6. You can search for articles on a specific topic in a specific journal by combining a keyword or title search with a journal search.

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Combining Search Sets

You can use the Combine option to:

• expand a search by including synonyms using OR (view an example)
• narrow a search to find the intersection of two or more terms or concepts using AND (view an example)
• find articles on a specific topic that are written by a certain author (view an example)
• search for articles on a specific topic in a specific journal (view an example)
• find articles with specific title words in a specific journal (view an example)

Expanding a Search By Including Synonyms

1. Perform a keyword search for anorexia.
2. Perform a keyword search for bulimia.
3. On the Main Search Page, click on the Combine icon to get to the combine screen.
4. Click in the "select" boxes next to the terms anorexia and bulimia.
5. Choose OR from the pull-down menu and click on the Combine Searches button at the top of the screen.
6. If anorexia and bulimia were your only previous searches, you will now see Search #3 with Search History listed as "1 or 2" (meaning searches 1 and 2 were combined using OR).

#	Search History
1	*Bulimia/
2	*Anorexia nervosa/
3	1 or 2

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Narrowing a Search

1. Perform a keyword search for cancer. (Cancer will be mapped to Neoplasms.)
2. On the Main Search Page, click on the Combine icon to get to the combine screen.
3. Click on the "select" boxes next to the terms Nursing care plans and Neoplasms.
4. Choose AND from the pull-down menu and click on the Combine Searches button at the top of the screen.
5. If Nursing care plans and Neoplasms were your only previous searches, you will now see Search #3 with Search History listed as "1 and 2" (meaning searches 1 and 2 were combined using AND).

#	Search History
1	*Nursing care plans/
2	*Neoplasms/
3	1 and 2

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Combining Keyword and Author Searches

1. Perform an author search for Chapman C, clicking in the check boxes next to each Chapman whose first initial is C.
2. Perform a keyword search for morphine.
3. On the Main Search Page, click on the Combine icon to get to the combine screen.
4. Click on the "select" boxes next to the searches for Chapman and morphine.
5. Choose AND from the pull-down menu and click on the Combine Searches button at the top of the screen.
6. If Chapman and morphine were your only previous searches, you will now see Search #3 with Search History listed as "1 and 2" (meaning searches 1 and 2 were combined using AND).

#	Search History
1	("chapman c" or "chapman cb" or "chapman ce" or "chapman cl" or "chapman cliburn g" or "chapman cm" or "chapman cr").au.
2	*Morphine/
3	1 and 2

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Combining Keyword and Journal Searches

1. Perform a keyword search for exchange programs.
2. Perform a journal search for journal of nursing education.
3. On the Main Search Page, click on the Combine icon to get to the combine screen.
4. Click on the "select" boxes next to the searches for Exchange Programs and journal of nursing education.
5. Choose AND from the pull-down menu and click on the Combine Searches button at the top of the screen.
6. If Exchange Programs and journal of nursing education were your only previous searches, you will now see Search #3 with Search History listed as "1 and 2" (meaning searches 1 and 2 were combined using AND).

#	Search History
1	*Exchange Programs/
2	"journal of nursing education".jn
3	1 and 2

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Combining Title and Journal Searches

1. Perform a title search for hospital governance.
2. Perform a journal search for nursing economics.
3. On the Main Search Page, click on the Combine icon to get to the combine screen.
4. Click on the "select" boxes next to the searches for hospital governance.ti. and nursing economics.
5. Choose AND from the pull-down menu and click on the Combine Searches button at the top of the screen.
6. If hospital governance and nursing economics were your only previous searches, you will now see Search #3 with Search History listed as "1 and 2" (meaning searches 1 and 2 were combined using AND).

#	Search History
1	hospital governance.ti.
2	"nursing economics".jn.
3	1 and 2

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Viewing Search Results

1. From the Main Search Screen, click on Display to view the results of your search.
   The citations are shown in the Titles Display format, usually in groups of 10 titles at a time. The display starts with a heading that contains the text of your search, the number of citations retrieved, and the range of citations currently displayed (1-10, 11-20, etc.).

2. Click on Complete Reference to view an individual record in detail on a Citation Display Page. * PLEASE NOTE: It is recommended that you use the navigational buttons provided on the screen instead of the Web browser's "Back" and "Forward" buttons. This is extremely important when you are marking citations.

   The Citation Display Page includes information such as the author(s), title of the article, journal title, country of publication, subject headings, abstracts (when available), and cited references (when available).

   You will notice that certain fields of information (Authors and CINAHL Subject Headings) include Search Links. For example, clicking on an author's name will automatically start a search for other documents written by that author.

3. Mark the records that you want to save for printing, emailing or downloading by clicking on the citation box at the top of the abstract or complete reference screens. You can also mark the records you wish to save from the Titles Display List by clicking on the check box to the left of each citation. *** NOTE: If you use the BACK button on the browser instead of the icons provided in CBC, your marks will not be saved in CBC.

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Printing Search Results

1. Return to the Titles Display screen. (If you are on a Citation Display page, click on the Titles Display button at the top of the page.)

2. Scroll down to the Citation Manager at the bottom of the screen.

3. In the Citations column, choose which citations you wish to print. If you just want to print the citations you marked, click in the circle next to Selected (all pages). You also have the option of printing the entire set of results.

4. The Fields column lets you select how much information to include for each citation. If you want to print the citation in the same format as it appears in the Citation Display page, click in the circle next to Complete Reference.

5. Leave the next two columns (Citation Format and Save Format) in the default settings.

6. Click the Display button under the Action column.

7. Click on print from your Web browser's File Menu or toolbar.

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Emailing Search Results

1. Return to the Titles Display screen. (If you are on a Citation Display page, click on the Titles Display button at the top of the page.)

2. Scroll down to the Citation Manager at the bottom of the screen.

3. In the Citations column, choose which citations you wish to email to yourself. If you just want to email the citations you marked, click in the circle next to Selected (all pages). You also have the option of emailing the entire set of results.

4. The Fields column lets you select how much information to include for each citation. If you want to email the citation in the same format as it appears in the Citation Display page, click in the circle next to Complete Reference.

5. Leave the Citation Format column in the default setting of Ovid.

6. In the Save Format column, click in the circle next to ASCII Text (Unix).

7. Click the Email button in the Action column, type in your complete email address, and click on the Send Email button at the top of the screen.

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Saving Search Results on a Disk

1. Return to the Titles Display screen. (If you are on a Citation Display page, click on the Titles Display button at the top of the page.)

2. Scroll down to the Citation Manager at the bottom of the screen.

3. In the Citations column, choose which citations you wish to save to a disk. If you just want to save the citations you marked, click in the circle next to Selected (all pages). You also have the option of saving the entire set of results.

4. The Fields column lets you select how much information to include for each citation. If you want to save the citation in the same format as it appears in the Citation Display page, click in the circle next to Complete Reference.

5. Leave the Citation Format column in the default setting of Ovid.

6. In the Save Format column, click next to ASCII Text (DOS/Windows) if you are on a PC, or ASCII Text (Macintosh) if you are on a Mac.

7. Click the Save button in the Action column and follow the directions provided.

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Exiting CINAHL

1. Return to the Main Search Screen. If you are on a Citations Display or Titles Display screen, click on the Main Search Page button at the top of the page.

2. Click on the Logoff icon at the top right of the screen.

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