Veterinary - Research Databases

This guide explains how to use the key databases that are available through the Vet Med Library and LSU Libraries.

Always access the databases from the Vet Med Library's website! Library links and your LSU login credentials will enable access to subscribed resources. 

Research databases perform differently than searches on the open web. Databases provide organized, reliable scholarly information.

Once you have determined a research topic, follow these basic steps for more successful results.

1. Identify the key concepts of your research question.

Example:  Research question:  "What are the risk factors for feline Diabetes mellitus?"

                Key concepts:   risk factors, feline, Diabetes mellitus

2. Choose keywords to use as search terms for your key concepts. To retrieve more possible results, include synonyms and variants for your search terms.

Example:  Search terms for each concept:  "risk factors" OR risks

               feline OR cat OR felidae OR felis

               "diabetes mellitus" OR diabetes

3. Determine if you need to add special search strategies such as Boolean operators, truncation, phrase searching, etc. (see Search Strategies further below). Using the Advanced Search tab in most databases will build your search and create a search string for you.

Example:  ("Risk factors" OR risks) AND (feli* OR cat) AND ("diabetes mellitus" OR Diabetes)

4. Determine which databases you will search, then make sure you know how to effectively search those databases. Because databases are unique, searching multiple databases will help ensure that you retrieve all citations that are available on a topic. While there may be some citation overlap in databases, results will vary because of indexing differences. 

5. Evaluate your results. If you have too few results, go back and try your search again with broader terms or fewer concepts. If you have too many results, use the filter options to narrow your results, or go back and try your search again with more specific terms or more concepts.

• AND between search terms retrieves results that include all the search terms.

• OR between search terms retrieves results that include at least one of the search terms.

• NOT before a search term excludes the retrieval of citations with that term. 

If you want to search terms as an exact phrase, put the terms in quotation marks. Results will include only resources that include that exact phrase. 

Example: “dairy goats” retrieves only results that include the phrase dairy goats in that exact order and wording.

Use an asterisk with the root of a search term to search all possible forms of that term. 

Example: microb* yields results for the terms microbe, microbial, microbiome, microbiologists, microbiology, etc. 

Be aware that using truncated words occasionally tags nonrelevant articles so check results to ensure accuracy. 

When joining multiple Boolean searches, use parentheses to separate each search part.

Example: hyperthyroidism AND (cat OR feli*) AND (treatment OR therapy OR therapeutics)