NUR 101: Issues and Opportunities in Nursing Course Guide

Introduction

Nancy Curtis, 581-1679 Science & Engineering Center, 581-1691

Reference Desk, 581-1673 Ask A Librarian

• Hours during the regular academic year (reduced hours during breaks).
• Fogler Library usually changes something (services, resources, locations) over breaks: What's new at Fogler library.
• Largest library in the state--check the floor plan to find specific library locations.
• Most library assignments involve many steps--selecting a topic, searching databases, finding articles, printing or photocopying, reading, and writing. Don't wait until everybody else is trying to do the same thing.
• No library session before the assignment? For a good starting point, see the "My research is in:" portals on the library home page.
• Not sure which tool to use? Want some assistance? Contact a librarian.

Library Assignment 1

CINAHL

CINAHL is the most important database for nursing students. Connect to it from the Indexes and Databases link or the nursing portal link on the library home page.

Tips for this assignment:

• To find Maine authors, click Advanced Search, select Author Affiliation from the pull-down menu, and type Maine in the search box.
• To find citations from nursing journals, either click Advanced Search and scroll to Limit your results, or scroll down from Refine your results and click Show More. Then select Nursing from the Journal Subset pull-down menu.
• Click on the title of an article and read the affiliation details to be sure you have found an article written by a Maine nurse.

From citations to articles, books, and more

Some citations have an associated full text link. The rest of the time, use to retrieve the article or find it in the library. See Finding Items at Fogler Library for details.

Evaluate your results BEFORE you print (or photocopy)

Printing and photocopying costs add up.

• No charge for scanning and/or saving files.
• Your MaineCard permits $16 worth of "free" printing ($0.04/side, $0.07/double-sided page) each semester.
• Pay for excess printouts using Black Bear Bucks ("campus funds").
• Free printing funds don't carry over between semesters, but Black Bear Bucks do.
• Photocopies cost $0.08/side (Black Bear Bucks).

Library Assignment 2

Reserve readings

Use the URSUS catalog to find reserve readings

• by course name
• by instructor

Check out and return reserve materials at the Circulation/Reserves/Media desk on the 1st floor, northeast corner.

Database search tips

• Besides CINAHL, try Academic Search Complete or other general databases.
• Try alternative terminology: mental health nursing as well as psychiatric nursing.
• Try alternative spelling (British as well as American).
• Truncate (use a wildcard) to get variations on a word: biograph* retrieves biographies, biography... Don't drop too many letters when you truncate.

• Try combining AND, OR, and truncation: dix and (biograph* or obituar*)

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Created by: Nancy Curtis | Revised: 01/11/2013