IST 605: New to Navigating Healthcare

Search Engine Tips

Internet search engines can be fast and useful ways to find information about healthcare and how to access it. Some of the most common search engines are:

• Google
• Bing
• Yahoo!

Use specific phrases to get precise results. Search engines can use your location to find local resources, so try to be specific if you want a result near a specific location. Many search engines to prioritize advertisements and sponsored results, so be sure to confirm that any result you're looking at is credible.

Tips for Database Searching

Searching information in databases can be really useful to improve your health literacy. Here are some strategies to help you find the information you want and need.

Filters

Databases have filters that can let you limit what results show up. When it comes to healthcare and medical information, you typically want items that are recent and reliable. So try:

• Limiting the date. You can select what date the results are from using the filters. or example, you can limit to show results from 2020 and later.
• Selecting the type of item. You can select if you want an article, a book, a magazine, etc. You can also select if you want something that has been peer reviewed.
• Proximity filters. Many databases will let you check off a box to use a proximity feature. This will show you results that might not match your keywords, but are typically related to the items that do match.

Booleans

Boolean operators can make the keywords you search more precise or less specific, depending on how they are used. The most common Booleans are:

• "And" can be used to link results, so that only items that have both the phrases are shown.
• "Or" can be used so that results will either of the phrases linked.
• "Not" will remove any results linked with this term, but be careful. Any terms after "not" will be treated as unwanted search results.