.Information Literacy in the Health Sciences

The Library Catalog is a searchable interface of the records of all the materials owned by the ISU Library. It includes an inventory of the library materials, including books, journals, electronic journal subscriptions, government documents, DVDs, videos, CDs, audio books, and software.

Use the ISU Library Catalog as your first option for locating books, scores, microfilms, journal titles (but NOT articles), sound recordings, and videos owned by Indiana State University, as well as Web-based resources that are accessible via the catalog (electronic books and journals).

LIBRARY CATALOG SEARCH STRATEGY

Do not search the Library Catalog as if you are searching the Internet. The Library Catalog searches for words in a description of the books, not the full-text.

1. Do broad searches. If you want information about Serena Williams, also try searching for "tennis" or "sports." Books on those topics are likely to mention her, too.
2. Don't enter too many search words. You may miss a book because the description does not include all of the search words you used.
3. Don't enter search words that are too specific. You may miss a book because the description used a synonym instead of your search word.
4. Try more than one search. Experiment with different combinations of search words. 
5. Observe what words are used in the books you find on your topic. The description may suggest other search words for you to try.
6. Click on interesting Subjects in the record of the book. You may find more on the same Subject.
7. Read the record of the items in the Results. Maybe what you found is not a book. Maybe it is a video or a journal. Don't lose points on your assignment if you are required to use a book.
8. Don't use juvenile literature (children's materials) if not appropriate. The ISU Library does include children's books for young children.
9. Try searching using scientific terminology but also try common language terms. The Library Catalog is not a science database. 

The Library Catalog is a searchable interface of the records of all the materials owned by the ISU Library. It includes an inventory of the library materials, including books, journals, electronic journal subscriptions, government documents, DVDs, videos, CDs, audio books, and software.

WorldCat is a database that allows you to search across multiple library catalogs from libraries located around the world. WorldCat can be used to identify existing items in libraries around the world and also request that the ISU Library obtain those items for you using the Interlibrary Loan service.

Use WorldCat to identify books, scores, microfilms, journal titles (but NOT articles), sound recordings, and videos owned and NOT owned by Indiana State University, as well as Web-based resources that are accessible via the catalog (electronic books and journals).

WORLDCAT SEARCH STRATEGY

Do not search the WorldCat as if you are searching the Internet. WorldCat searches for words in a description of the book, not the full-text.

1. Do broad searches. If you want information about Serena Williams, also try searching for "tennis" or "sports." Books on those topics are likely to mention her, too.
2. Don't enter too many search words. You may miss a book because the description does not include all of the search words you used.
3. Don't enter search words that are too specific. You may miss a book because the description used a synonym instead of your search word.
4. Try more than one search. Experiment with different combinations of search words. 
5. Observe what words are used in the books you find on your topic. The description may suggest other search words for you to try.
6. Click on interesting Subjects in the record of the book. You may find more on the same Subject.
7. Read the record of the items in the Results. Maybe what you found is not a book. Maybe it is a video or a journal. Don't lose points on your assignment if you are required to use a book.
8. Don't use juvenile literature (children's materials) if not appropriate. The ISU Library does include children's books for young children.
9. Try searching using scientific terminology but also try common language terms. The Library Catalog is not a science database. 

If you find a book or item NOT owned by the ISU Library, click Send ISU ILL request to ILLiad to connect to your Interlibrary Loan account and request that the ISU Library obtain that item for you from another library. You will receive an e-mail notifying you when the item has arrived at the ISU Library. If you are a distance student, the ISU Library will snail-mail the book to your address.

The ISU Library does not have the budget to purchase a book on EVERY health condition and disease. But we do own some books that compile information about a large number of health conditions.

The two books below are intended to serve as reference books in a hospital or medical library for healthcare professionals to access when they need an overview of a health condition. Both books present information of health conditions in a standard format of Etiology, Symptoms and Signs, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention, and more.

About e-books. Most of our e-books are provided by two different companies--EBSCOHOST eBook Collection and Ebook Central - ProQuest--so they have a certain look and feel from those companies.

The search within the e-book only searches for the exact string of characters you entered. It will not retrieve other word endings, like plurals or -ing. So be aware. Also, most e-books limit how many pages you may save or download or print. This number limit is set by the publisher-vendor of the e-book, not by the ISU Library. Sometimes the limit set for a particular book is ridiculously small. If you find you need more pages beyond the page limit, let us know and we will help you get them.