Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature
How to use CINAHL
Before you begin
It is always worthwhile to review your choice of keywords before using a journal index. Ask yourself:
- What are the possible keywords that relate to my search?
- Are there any relevant unique terms or names?
- What equivalent or interchangeable terms can I use?
This guide will use the topic of research pertaining to infection control as an example. In this case, the keywords asepsis and infection control and sterilization might all be useful keywords. Can you think of any others?
Why use CINAHL?
There are a number of good reasons for using CINAHL (Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) to search for information.
CINAHL
- targets the research needs of health professionals.
- indexes more than 1,300 journals worldwide, plus US Department of Health publications, doctoral dissertations and American health legislation.
- began in 1982 and is updated weekly.
- contains abstracts to most of the references listed.
- contains links to full-text references, URLs to some web sites and 'Find it' linking to full text sources available via UNE.
Beginning a search
To begin your search of the CINAHL index:
- Go to the UNE Libraries web page (http://www.une.edu.au/library/) and click Research guides from the Training and Help column
- Supply your UNE username and password when prompted.
- You are now on the Search screen.
- Type infection control in the first search box. Note that Select a field (optional) appears in the drop-down box immediately to the right on the screen.
- Click on the Search button adjacent to the box (NOT your browser's search button). CINAHL then displays the first ten matches for your search and tells you how many matches there are in total.
Combining keywords
The above search results in more than 13,000 matches, which is far too many.
To bring the number of matches down to a realistic number, you need add additional relevant keywords to your search.
The next step is to search again. Your search appears at the top of the screen, above the first 10 matches. Add method or procedure in the second search box before clicking the Search button again. Using OR means that either of these terms can be present when combined with your first search term.
It is recommended that you build searches a keyword at a time if you are a novice. Otherwise, if you get no matches you can have a difficult time determining which keyword has caused this. A systematic approach to searching gets better results.
CINAHL lists the results of the combined search. Notice that your matches are reduced to under 600. Again, the most recent 10 are displayed on the screen. Note that you can click Next either above or below the record display to scroll through all the results in groups of ten.
If you still have more matches than you want you can add another term, research for example, in the third search box.
You can also use the Search History/Alerts tab above the results display to re-run your searches, combine searches or revise strategies.
Refining your search
The search software for CINAHL allows you to refine your search in other ways. Methods you can use include:
- Wildcards: sterili?ation will match sterilisation or sterilization.
- Truncation: austral* will find australia, australian or australasian.
- Phrase searches: if two words are entered into the same search box and surrounded by quotation marks (") CINAHL will interpret the words as a single phrase, eg youth suicide, infection control.
- Boolean operators: AND, OR and NOT can be used to determine the relationship between one or more keywords: dog OR cat, cats AND dogs, dogs NOT cats. Note that Boolean operators can be either upper or lower case with this search software and that the search screen does supply Boolean operators between search boxes to assist you. This is not always the case with other search databases eg Medline on PubMed.
Our search example has used both phrase searching and Boolean operators.
You can also limit your search to a particular date range, and to peer reviewed or scholarly articles. See the Limit your results panel on the main search screen or use the Narrow results by options to the left of the results display. Once you have selected options from this panel a red Limiters set message appears above the results, and will remain in effect until you remove them. Note the additional options that exist in the Limit your results pane.
Retrieval options
When you look at the records displayed, you can read an abstract or document summary for most of them by clicking on the article title. The abstract is a useful aid to selecting articles and you should retain it when you print, email or save your search.
To locate the full text article, in most cases you will need to, click the Find it button, which permits you to check if UNE has electronic or paper access to the journal containing your article.
DO NOT limit your search to Linked full text as UNE has very limited full text as part of the database, and uses Find it to locate most articles.
Creating a Folder
This allows you to weed out those records which are less relevant and bring together the references of most use to you. As you scroll through the records you can click Add to folder to the right of a particular record, or add all the records on the page by clicking Add 11-20 for example above or below the results display. Once you have added items to the Folder the icon will say Folder has itemswhen you run your mouse over it. To display the contents of the Folder, click on this icon at the top of the screen. You can then choose to print, save or email only the records in your Folder.
Saving records
When you have completed your search, you can choose to save your records to a storage device or to your computer's hard drive. To save records:
- Click on the Folder icon at the top right of the of the CINAHL window. Tick the items you wish to save.
- Click Save above the record display.
- CINAHL will then display a window giving you the opportunity to choose the format in which the records will be displayed. Choose Standard Field Format and then Detailed Citation and Abstract from the drop down menu and click Save.
- When formatted display appears on your screen use the Save as function from the File menu on your browser.
- Click the Save button in this window when you have located the drive or folder into which you intend to save your results and given the file a name to enable you to locate it again. You can save your results as a .txt file or in web page format. Either will contain all the elements you need, but the web page format is more readable.
- Click the Back button on the screen to return to searching.
Printing
If you wish to print out the references in your folder:
- Click on Folder, select items to be printed by ticking appropriate boxes, then click the Print icon.
- Select Standard Field Format and Detailed Citation and Abstract and click Print on this screen.
- Once displayed in a clear printable format use the print icon or File > Print from your browser to print out these records.
Emailing records
You can email search results to yourself, or to anyone else with an email account.
- Create your Folder list of references, click on the Folder icon, select the items you wish to email, then click on the E-mail icon within the CINAHL window
- Complete the displayed boxes and select Standard Field Format and Detailed Citation and Abstract if you wish to have both the abstract and indication that the journal is peer reviewed included. You can also select plain text or rich text format.
- Click on the Send button
- A screen saying Your e-mail has been sent to recipient@email.domain appears. Click Continue then Back to return to your search.
- You will not receive the full text of the articles cited. For this, you will need to have the individual full text article open.
Logging out
When you have finished using CINAHL click on UNE University Library. Always exit an index when you finish using it.
Finding the articles you need
Some, but not all references in CINAHL are linked to the full text electronic version of the article. You can check whether the UNE University Library has access to a paper or electronic version of a reference by clicking on the Find it button displayed below to each citation. On the new screen, click Go next to the version of the reference offered, either a link to electronic format or to the library catalogue listing for the paper journal subscription or book.
Note that articles referenced in CINAHL are not necessarily in the UNE Libraries system.
The UNE University Library Catalogue will also tell you whether or not the relevant journal is in our collection, in paper or electronic version, or in both. Remember: you must search for the journal title, not the title or author of the individual article. If you want self paced assistance on using the catalogue, use the eSKILLS pages on using the catalogue.
Summary
This guide has discussed the following topics about the CINAHL database:
- Keyword searches;
- Modifying searches;
- Creating a Folder;
- Printing, saving and emailing results;
- and Recommends a strategy for locating copies of the articles you need.
Note that there are many additonal strategies and hints you can use to improve your searching technique. See the eSKILLS Plus pages for guidance.
Also, CINAHL is just one index among many available from the University Library. Two other useful indexes include Sociological Abstracts and PsycInfo, using CSA software. Additional possibilities include ProQuest Medical Library, Meditext, Emerald Fulltext and others. Investigate the Resources page on the UNE University Library site and contact the Library if you need assistance.
Online Help and Further Assistance
For further assistance in using CINAHL, click on the Help button at the right of the CINAHL screen.
If you have trouble connecting to use CINAHL or other indexes, contact the Information Desk at UNE on (02) 6773 2458, your Faculty Librarian, Sylvia Ransom during Library opening hours, or enquire using the Ask a Librarian.