Nursing Program

Fall 2009

Guide for finding sources at the George T. Potter Library

Susan B. Kurzmann

skurzman@ramapo.edu

x7199

 

I. Library Homepage: http://library.ramapo.edu

  

Your access point to the catalog (OPAC), databases, interlibrary loan forms, etc.

II. Find Books

  • Catalog: Use this to find books, periodical titles (NOT articles ), government documents, reserve items, music, and movies owned by the Library. You may limit a search by language, year(s) of publication, type of material, etc. This may take a few seconds to load.
  • In Basic Search, search the catalog using Keywords to find material
    • For example: search for nursing or nurses to locate a broad range of material and look for ideas for your project
      • Use quotation marks around a multi-word phrase, e.g., "acute care"

      Your results will come up ranked by relevance;, and you may then re-sort them by title, author, publish [=publication] date, or publish date descending (the  most recent items will be listed first)

      • When you find an appropriate title, click on the Subjects, etc. tab located at the top of a catalog record to see which Library of Congress (LC) subject headings are discussed in that particular book/DVD/periodical
    • Use the Subject Browse feature if you know the relevant LC subject heading, e.g.,
        • Nursing--Social aspects    Industrial nursing
        Nursing--Practice--United States Diabetes--Complications
      • On the subject headings screen, Click on for the scope note for that subject heading. For example, you've entered Nursing assessment:

        Note: Here are entered works on the process of gathering data on the health status of a patient through interview, observation, examination, etc., in nursing. Works on the problem-oriented description of a patient's actual or potential health problems that a nurse is licensed and competent to treat are entered under Nursing diagnosis.

      • Click on to see more information about the term you've entered, such as recommended narrower or broader terms. For example, you've entered Nursing as a profession:

      References for: Nursing as a profession

      The references listed below may also contain information related to your search.
      References may include:

      • See references
      • See also references
      • Search Under
      • Broader Term
      Reference Info

      See:Nursing--Vocational guidance.
  • In Advanced Search

    The Boolean search terms are built in for your use to enable the catalog to provide more focused results:

    • AND: you're telling the system to search for material that addresses both terms you've entered, e.g., nursing and profession

    OR: you're telling the system to search for material on either of the search terms you have entered

    NOT: you're telling the system to search for material on the first term you've entered and to exclude any material on the second term you have entered

    TIPS

  1. Our Catalog is used to find books, periodical titles (NOT articles), government documents, reserve items, music, and movies owned by the Library. You may limit a search by language, year(s) of publication, type of material, etc.
  2. Start with broad searches. It's much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
  3. If you don't know the Subject Heading, use the Subjects, etc. tab located on the top of a catalog record to get to the headings. This will help you focus in on more relevant material.
  4. You can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record.

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III. Reference Material

*The reference stacks are located on the 3rd floor (this is also the library's entrance).

Useful titles for your research:

    A Cross Section of Nursing Research: Journal Articles for Discussion and Evaluation Ref RT81.5 .C76 2005
    Dictionary of Nursing Theory and Research Ref RT81.5 .P69 2006
    Encyclopedia of Nursing Research Ref RT81.5 .E53 2006
    The Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing & Allied Health Ref RT21 .G353 2002
    Historical Encyclopedia of Nursing Ref RT 31 .S66 1999
    Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice Ref RT 51 .B78 2006
    Thomson Delmar Learning’s Medical-Surgical Nursing Care Plans Ref RT49 .R63 2008
    The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy RC55 .M4

    Mosby's Medical Dictionary

    		Ref R121 .M89 2009
    Nursing Care Plans & Documentation: Nursing Diagnoses and Collaborative Problems Ref RT49 .C38 2009
    Nursing Theorists and Their Work Ref RT84.5 N9 2006
    PDR Guide to Drug Interactions, Side Effects, and Indications Ref RS75 .P3 2009
    Pediatric Nursing Procedures Ref RJ245 .B693 2008
    Perspectives on Nursing Theory Ref RT84.5 .P47 2008
    Stedman's Abbrev.: Abbreviations, Acronyms & Symbols Ref R123 .S69 1999
    Wong's Nursing Care of Infants and Children Ref RJ245 .W47 2003

   

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IV. Find Articles (Databases)

  • Some useful Databases for finding articles:

CINAHL

CINAHL: Coverage from 1982-present

*Re-sort results by Relevance to get the BEST articles!

NOTE: When only a citation is included, click on the Check availability at Ramapo link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.
Health Management Journals

Largely full-text.

NOTE: When only a citation is included, click on the Find a copy link and then on Check for full text via 1Cate to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.

Health Source Nursing/Academic Edition

Coverage: 1985-present

NOTE: When only a citation is included, click on the Check availability at Ramapo link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.
MEDLINE (via EBSCO)

Index from the National Library of Medicine

NOTE: When only a citation is included, click on the Check availability at Ramapo link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.

Biological Sciences (JSTOR) Full-text articles from scholarly journals
See also:
Alt-HealthWatch Full-text coverage of the full spectrum of Alternative Medicine subject areas and focuses on complementary, holistic and integrated approaches to health care and wellness.

ProQuest Central

Academic Search Premier

Multi-disciplinary databases containing both full-text articles and citations.

NOTE: When only a citation is included, click on the Check availability at Ramapo OR Find a copy link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.

  • Choose database you would like to search
  • By subject

OR

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V.  Websites

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VI. Journal Finder and Obtaining materials from other libraries:

Journal Finder

Find out if a particular periodical (newspaper, journal, or magazine) is available full-text online, in print in the library, or available on microfilm. A link can be found under Quick Links on the library's homepage

Obtaining material we don't have at the George T. Potter Library:

Interlibrary Loan

You may borrow a book or article that our library doesn't own. There is a link from the Journal Finder page.

Reciprocal Borrowing

You can go to other NJ State college and universities libraries for material

*You must fill out a form at the reference desk

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VII. Preparing Bibliographies

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Need more help? Visit or call the Reference Desk: 201.684.7574

OR

Use QandA NJ.org, a 24/7 virtual chat service with a reference librarian.

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