CHLS 470Latin@s and Health

Susan LuévanoEthnic Studies Librarian

susan.luevano@csulb.edu

• Create a research statement• Childhood obesity among Mexican

Americans is a major health crisis. • Define the questions – Ask why????

• What research question(s) should be addressed ? Childhood obesity among Mexican Americans is a major health crisis.

• How do you define obesity?• What are the % of Mex American

children who are obese? • What are the causes?

• Use prompts– Who– What – Where – Why– How

• Using the right vocabulary is the key to successful research

• Identify key concepts• Childhood obesity among Mexican

Americans is a major health crisis.

Find articles where all 3 concepts appear.

• AND narrows a search– both variables must appear in same

citation– terms are different in meaning– example: “Diabetes AND Hispanics”

• OR broadens a search– terms are similar in meaning– either term may appear in the record– example: “Latinos OR Hispanics”

• Searches root word to retrieve variant endings• Obes*• Obese• Obesity• Obeso• Obesidad

• Http://www.csulb.edu/library– 1) OneSearch: Test or preliminary search for

journal articles, books & more– 2) Structured Databases by topic/title

• Largest bio-medical database in the world• Includes pre-publication & Medline data• Free version• Key word & MeSH searching options• 1940 -

– The National Library of Medicine’s international, biomedicine & health journal database covering all areas of medicine, including dentistry, nursing, veterinary medicine, the health care system, preclinical sciences.• OVID Mostly journals • 1951 to present• Availability

• An authoritative resource for the nursing, health administration, and allied health literature – journals, books, pamphlets, audiovisuals, software, research instruments, dissertations, etc

• 1982 to present• Availability

• 1,300 journals in all areas of psychology. Also includes references to dissertations, media, and books. 

• 1,300 journals• Abstracts• Availability

• General subject database containing indexing and abstracts for over 5,400 journals & 4,400 peer reviewed journals

• 1985 to present• Mostly full-text• Availability

– Start with:• Keywords that describe your

topic–Move to:• Specific headings that might

better define your topic. Most databases have a subject thesaurus or controlled vocabulary (like MeSH for MEDLINE & PubMed@CSULB).

• What to do if you get too much?Limit options, e.g. age, geography, ethnicity, genderField searching, e.g. subject headings, date, languageCombine searches or add more concepts

• What to do if you get too few?Eliminate concepts/use broader topicRelated articles (PubMed, Get it @CSULB)Cited references

Ask at the Research & Information desk, 1st floor WestSet up a research consultations with Susan Luévano Susan.luevano@csulb.eduOffice Hours: Wed., 2:30 -4:30 PM Room 416, 4th floor, U Library