Frequently asked questions 6 – What do we need all these databases for when we have Google?

Questions:

• What is the purpose of all the different databases when there is Google?
• Why should I learn to search different databases and portals when I could just Google it?
• Why is not Google enough?

Some answers:

• The Internet has improved the availability of information and publications. Search engines like Google make searching easy but do they also make finding easy when a search result is counted in millions?
• The large amount of information and its diversity make it difficult to find the right information.
• The quality and level of the information a search engine can find is varied – anything from discussion forums to scholarly publications and from advertisement to encyclopedias. There is no quality control.
• Information on the Internet is scattered in bits and pieces, and not organized in a comprehensive way like in the subject databases.
• The search result of Google is random and different in different situations and for different searchers, and not systematic or reproducible.
• In the Internet, anyone can present oneself as an expert. There is necessarily no peer review before publication.
• All information is not in the Internet – at least not for free.

By: Tuulevi Ovaska, Head of Services, Kuopio University Hospital Medical Library, University of Eastern Finland Library

Frequently asked questions 2 – Truncation

Questions about truncating search terms when searching databases:

• Why is it necessary to truncate search terms?
• How should I truncate my term?
• What truncation mark should be used?

You do not always have to truncate your search terms but…

• robots (search engines) only search for character strings, not for meanings
• most terms have singular and plural forms, and also genetives

Examples:

• truncated patient* retrieves all these: patient, patients, patient’s
• not truncated patient retrieves only patient
• truncated child* retrieves child, children, child’s children’s
• not truncated child retrieves only child

Different databases use different truncation marks. The most common are asterisk * and question mark ?. Check the database’s manual/FAQ if * does not seem to work. In PubMed, Cochrane Library and Scopus truncate using *. In Josku truncate using ?.

There are also irregular plurals so that the singular and plural forms are different in a way that truncation does not work.

For example:

• foot/feet
• mouse/mice
• tooth/teeth
• woman/women

In some databases it is possible to use so called wild cards and search for e.g. wom*n, but in many databases you have to search singular and plural combined with OR.

For example:

• foot OR feet
• mouse OR mice
• tooth OR teeth
• woman OR women

There are also irregular plurals that can be search by truncating.

For example:

• criteri* retrieves singular criterion and pluralcriteria
• nucle* retrieves singular nucleus and plural nuclei (and also nuclear, nucleic, nucleoid, nucleon…)
• analys* retrieves singular analysis and plural analyses (and also analysand and analyst)
• phenomen* retrieves singular phenomenon and plural phenomena (and also e.g. phenomenology)

Watch a video in YouTube about truncation.

By: Tuulevi Ovaska, Head of Services, Kuopio University Hospital Medical Library, University of Eastern Finland Library