LibGuides: PBHL4950: Cultural Dimensions of Health: Find Articles & Research

Credo Reference

Credo Reference

In addition to books and encyclopedias, you can find overview information on a variety of topics through our Credo Reference's Academic Core database. Essentially, a collection of ebooks, everything is accessible online and in full-text.

Credo Reference's Academic Core This link opens in a new window The Credo Reference database is a portal to over 1,300 full-text reference titles from over 120 major publishers. Easy to search and browse, the Credo platform provides access to text, images, maps, statistics, and graphic concept maps to illustrate connections among and between topics. The titles, which range across subjects in art, biography, business, geography, history language, law, literature, medicine, music, philosophy, psychology, religion, science, the social sciences, and technology, are fully integrated through the Credo search platform, and the Credo database also provides numerous points for accessing other Cheng Library resources. Credo is a most useful starting point for general research on almost any topic.

Evaluating Information

When searching in a database, critical thinking skills are essential. Don't waste time and paper! Spend a few minutes reviewing the citation and/or abstract information and consider the following details:

Author: who wrote this and what are his/her credentials and affiliations?

Source: is this a scholarly, professional, popular, or trade publication?

Publisher: who produced this? government? university? corporation?

Date: when was this published?

Audience: for whom is this written? general public? scholars? practitioners?

Purpose: are the findings clearly stated? Are there clear biases?

Data: is methodology explained? Are charts, graphs, illustrations clearly presented?

Conclusions: do the findings support the thesis?

References: are there footnotes and citations leading to related work?

Compare: how does this article compare with other articles in this field?

Public Health databases

The following databases will help you locate information on a variety of public health topics. Many of these databases offer full-text access to research, articles, and other publications. For a full list of the Library's databases, please visit our Databases page.

When searching, use Keywords (see Getting Started with Keywords) rather than typing questions or sentences. Consider the words you use and think of synonyms or related ideas that you might use (Disparity... Inequality... Inequity) if the first doesn't find what you're after.

These databases are recommended as starting points for your research in Public Health topics:

CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) with Full Text This link opens in a new window The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) is the most comprehensive resource for locating published research in nursing and allied health. The full text version includes content from over 600 journals indexed in the database, with many article backfiles extending to 1981. Frequently updated, CINAHL also provides searchers with current awareness of the newest journal articles through a rotating file of "Pre-CINAHL" records containing citation information and links to full-text (where available). [1981 - present]
Gale Health and Wellness (formerly Health and Wellness Resource Center) This link opens in a new window Gale Health and Wellness provides access to medical, statistical, health, and related information from reference sources, full-text articles and other resources. [1997 - present]
Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine (formerly Health Reference Center Academic) This link opens in a new window Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine contains up-to-date information on a wide variety of health care topics. With more than 2,500 embargo-free, full-text periodicals, reference books, pamphlets, and hundreds of videos demonstrating medical procedures and live surgeries, Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine provides current, scholarly, comprehensive information on health-related topics.
MEDLINE (via ProQuest) This link opens in a new window

Because we are also looking for information on specific populations and health-related issues (psychological health, social issues, etc.), you might also explore some of the following:

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window Large, interdisciplinary full-text database contains over 4,800 full-text publications, including academic journals, magazines, books, and trade publications. Offers broad subject coverage for a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, area studies, biology, chemistry, ethnic and multicultural studies, food science and technology, general science, geography, law, mathematics, music, pharmaceutical sciences, physics, psychology, religion and theology, women's studies, and many other fields. Funded by the the New Jersey State Library.
PsycINFO This link opens in a new window PsycINFO is the principal abstracting and indexing database covering peer-reviewed literature in the behavioral sciences and mental health. The database currently contains over 3.3 million records for articles from over 2,500 journals, books, and dissertations. Although the major focus of the database is psychology, it also includes information about the psychological aspects of related fields such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, technology, linguistics, anthropology, business, law, and others. The records in PsycINFO are organized by a rigorous and detailed system of subject classification to support high-precision searching, and links to full-text content are provided where available. [1887 - present]
ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window Access to over 2,400 full-text journals in the sciences and social sciences.
Scopus This link opens in a new window Scopus is a comprehensive database providing access to the research literature of the natural and physical sciences and the social sciences. The database currently provides over 50 million citation records and indexes over 20,000 peer-reviewed journals, over 390 trade publications, and over 370 book series. Also included are citations for over 5.5 million conference papers from proceedings and journals, over 25 million patent records from five patent offices, and articles in press from over 3,800 journals. [1823 - Present]
Congressional Quarterly Library (CQ Researcher and CQ Magazine) This link opens in a new window Two publications providing detailed coverage of Congress and legislative issues. The CQ Magazine offers timely coverage of the status of bills, votes and amendments, floor and committee activity, and backroom maneuvering. The CQ Researcher focuses on in-depth analysis about current and controversial issues; each edition concentrates on a single theme.

And, when you have really locked down your topic (not before!), you might use Google Scholar to see what else is out there:

Google Scholar (Full Text @ Cheng Library) This link opens in a new window Access full-text articles from the Library's subscription e-journals using the familiar Google search engine. For access to our subscription journals through Google Scholar, select the link above and then follow these steps: 1. Click on the top-left corner menu on the screen 2. Select "Settings" from the menu 3. On the next page, select "Library links" from the menu on the left side of the screen 4. Type "cheng" in the search field and run the search 5. Select "David and Lorraine Cheng Library - Full Text@Cheng Library" and then click on the "Save" button This will enable you to see the "Full Text@Cheng Library" links displayed with your search results.

Getting Started with Keywords

What's a Keyword?

Keywords are simple words or phrases that sum up your topic, and can usually be pulled from your research question.

Simply eliminate those words and concepts that have no meaning, when on their own (How, does, the, etc.), and you're usually left with 2-3 good keywords to use in your research.

To find information on a topic, you would use one or more of your keywords to search for sources (books, media, articles, etc.) in the library's online catalog or databases.