Before you begin your search, consider exploring your topic in one of the library's reference sources. Funk & Wagnalls and Gale Virtual Library are a great resources for reading and browsing background information on a topic. You might want to browse the recent news articles to see if anything looks interesting to research.
Digital encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, etc. that help to provide quick information on a subject.
Defining a clinical question in terms of the specific patient problem aids the searcher in finding clinically relevant evidence in the literature. The PICO Model is a format to help define your question. Based on your PICO question, identify 3-4 search terms that can be used to locate sources in a database.
PICO Element |
Possible Search Terms |
| P = Patient Population | school aged children, kids |
| I = Intervention or area of Interest | sleep, bedtime, wake time |
| C = Comparison or Control group | late bedtime |
| O = Outcome | grades, school attendance |
| T = Time frame (e.g. how long does it take for the intervention to reach an outcome?) Not always included |
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