Guide to searching CINAHL - Birmingham City University. Library ...

SAMPLE SEARCH in
CINAHL Plus with Full Text
Access Cinahl via iCity and the Library's Electronic Resources page. Once you are on the
search page follow this process:
1. Enter your search word in the box.
2. Click on
3. From the list, click in the box next to your subject term and click on
The subheading list defaults to Include All Subheadings.
Only select from this list when you have a very specific search in mind
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4. The results are now displayed below the search screen. To limit your search to the holdings of the
University, tick the boxes on the left for Birmingham City University Local Holdings and Full Text
5. then click on This displays another set of results, S2, above your first search results.
This Search History shows each line of the search (the Search Strategy).
The lines are numbered and show the Limiters applied and the number of results.
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6. Now search for your next term “Nursing Role” following steps 1 and 2 above.
7. With both terms now available in the Search History, tick the boxes to the left and to combine them,
click on
. This find articles with both subjects.
8. Another set has been created, S4, above the others. Now go to on the right.
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9. This Limiter page gives lots of options for making your search more specific. Now you can limit the
years between which you want to find articles.
You may also specify that you want articles from UK and Ireland Journals.
Hints: Explore the options on this page to see what you can use in the future.
* Only apply additional Limiters when it is needed to focus the search or specifically UK based material
is needed.
Then click on
at the top or bottom of the screen
10. The Search History shows each line of the search. However, once you Edit a search the results
which you limit are replaced with the new results. It is therefore best to apply limits one or a few at a time
to avoid having no results at all. S4 now has only 28 results reduced from 102 before the edit.
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VIEWING & FINDING RESULTS
After editing the search, click on View Results to see a list of articles that have been found.
THE PARTS OF A CITATION
Article Title
Volume and Issue Page Numbers
Authors Journal Title Year
ACCESSING THE JOURNALS / ARTICLES
Not all journals or articles are available electronically.
Not all electronic copies of journals / articles are linked directly from the CINAHL citation.
At the end of each citation one of the following will show when Full Text and Birmingham City
University Local Holdings have been selected.
1.
2.
Click on the PDF Full Text link and the article will be displayed. When printing/saving a PDF file use
print/save icons at the top of the PDF display on the document, not the File menu at the top of the
browser.
Click on the HTML Full Text link and the article will be displayed. This is not a very good format to print.
Convert it to a PDF document if you wish to print it.
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3.
Click on View Birmingham City University holdings (print and electronic). This takes you to the
Electronic Journals page
.
The next screen has one or
more electronic copy links
where these are available
and a link to the Library
Catalogue to show the print
holdings.
If there are print copies of the journal title, the Library Catalogue indicates in which Library they are
held.
At the Mary Seacole Library the last 10 years of print copies of journals are in the Silent Study
Area. All journals are arranged alphabetically by the title of the journal, then by year and lastly
by the volume and issue number. Copies older than the last 10 years may be kept in the
stack.
PRINTING A LIST OF CITATIONS
1. To print-out selected search results first make a selection. To save a citation for printing click on
Clicking on Add to folder changes the icon from
to
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2. When you have made your selection go to the right hand side of the screen and click on
Go to:Folder View
3. Click in the box next to Select / deselect all and click on
4. Click on
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5. Click on Print
A list of your results together with the search history will then be printed.
If you select the email option instead, articles in .pdf format will be attached to your email
If you need further help please go to Ask the Library –
http://library.bcu.ac.uk/hcontactus.htm
Or click on Help at the top of the CINAHL window.
Copies of this guide can be obtained from the Mary Seacole Library Enquiry Desk or on Moodle
via your course EyeLit (Guides to Resources).
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