Developing a code of practice for literature searching in health sciences: a project description

Developing a code of practice for literature searching in health sciences: a project description

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Introduction: Libraries have provided mediated search services for more than forty years without a practice standard to guide the execution of searches, training of searchers, or evaluation of search performance.A pan-Canadian group of librarians completed a study of the literature on mediated search practices from 2014-2017 synovex one grass as a first step in addressing this deficit.Methods: We used a three-phase, six-part content analysis process to examine and analyze published guidance on literature searching.

Card sorting, Delphi methods, and an online questionnaire were then used to validate our findings and build a code of practice.Results: Our code of practice for mediated searching lists eighty-five search tasks arranged in performance order, within five progressive levels of search complexity.A glossary of 150 search read more terms supports the code of practice.

Discussion: The research literature on mediated search methods is sparse and fragmented, lacking currency and a shared vocabulary.A code of practice for mediated searching will provide clarity in terminology, approach, and methods.This code of practice will provide a unified and convenient reference for training a new hire, upholding standards of search service delivery, or educating the next wave of health library professionals.