Databases are collections of subject specific resources. In a university/library context these are mainly academic resources such as journals, book chapters, conference proceedings, theses etc.
You can see lists of the key databases for the School of Health and Social Care in the Useful Resources box. These databases contain a mix of journal articles, e-book collections, images and videos, and other specialised sources.
Each database contains material related to specific topics and field areas. Some of these cover healthcare topics more broadly, and others are more specialised. Some of the recommended databases below are not healthcare specific but still contain relevant resources for healthcare topics e.g. management or education.
Some databases are free for anyone to access and search, such as Pubmed, but most require a subscription. The university pays for subscriptions to a number of key databases so that you have free access to search these as a Napier student. In order to make sure that a database recognises your access to our subscriptions it is best to access them via LibrarySearch, the A-Z database list, or the links from the Useful Resources box on this page.
Databases are particularly useful when searching for journal articles as it would be very time consuming to search individual journal webpages. Instead we can search in a relevant topic related database and search multiple journal titles at once to help us use our time studying more efficiently. Sometimes the resources we have access to via our database subscriptions cannot be found in LibrarySearch, e.g. you could find the overall journal title but not the individual articles.
Databases are also designed to be searched in a way that allows for more complex search methods, which can help us develop better searches which give us more relevant sets of search results, again helping us use our time studying more efficiently.
When searching in databases most of the time you want to use the advanced search feature to build a search that will find a more relevant set of search results. To do this you need to be able to plan effective search strategies, using appropriate keyword search terms, and inputting these into the database in the most effective combination.
The first step is to identify the keywords for your topic or question, and then identify any suitable alternative search terms. If you only use the terms from the original question or topic brief then you will miss out a lot of relevant articles. The keyword search strategy document below provides you with a template you can use to get you started. Remember some searches will have more keyword terms than others.
The videos below show examples of how to search in different databases, starting with more basic searches and building to more advanced techniques. How each database works can be different, so each database will have a help section where you can find more information about how to search in that particular one. You could also use a video platform such as YouTube to find more videos made by other university libraries, or the database companies themselves.
Getting Started with Database Searching
If you are a Masters or PhD student doing a literature review using systematic approaches then please also see the separate page on Literature Reviewing where there are more videos under Searching the Literature.
Social Work
Part of the NHS Scotland Knowledge Network specifically targeted at social services and social workers.
This is a free database produced by the Social Care Institute for Excellence. One of its advantages is that is UK focused. A lot of the material in here will be abstract only, meaning you will need to look the source up in LibrarySearch to see if we have full-text access to it. Register for a free account to take advantage of the full search function.
Occupational Therapy
OTseeker is a database that contains abstracts of systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials and other resources relevant to occupational therapy interventions.
You will also find some OT content in SportDiscus and PEDro below.
Physiotherapy
PEDro is a free database of over 52,000 trials, reviews and guidelines evaluating physiotherapy interventions.
Comprises full-text business periodicals and news sources from ABI/INFORM Global, Dateline, and Trade & Industry.
ProQuest’s privacy policy
As well as these databases I would also recommend looking at the list of Social Work resources on the AHP tab for other social sciences and criminology databases.
There are a wide range of free resources available on the web to find images related to health, medicine and public health. Links to some useful resources are given below.
A freely accessible image database of medical images provided by the National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health in the US.
A wide selection of modern and historical images relating to public health from the CDC (Center for Disease Control) in the US.
A resource from the University of Amsterdam providing a selection of detailed 3D images covering human embryo development. These can be downloaded as special PDF files containing 3D content allowing diagrams and images to be moved and rotated on screen.
BrainInfo is designed to help you identify structures in the brain.
Centre for Better Ageing
This is a collection of 'age-positive and realistic' images aimed at challenging negative and stereotypical views of later life.