Entry requirements

Minimum 180 credits in medicine, nursing, nutrition or another area relevant to international development, or 120 credits and one year of professional experience.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the students will:

Be experienced in finding web sites in medicine and health using specialised search engines, directories, gateways, pathfinders, and digital libraries;

Be able to find references to books in national union catalogues such as Libris in Sweden and the catalogues of special libraries such as the National Library of Medicine in the United States;

Be aware of where and how they can access online medical e-books without cost, including through the Uppsala University Library, Bookshelf at NLM, the library database at the World Health Organisation, freebooks4doctors.com, and other sites;

Be familiar with a variety of bibliographic databases focused on different topics, including Medline/PubMed for medicine, SSCI for social sciences, CINAHL for nursing, ERIC for pedagogy, etc.

Be able to carry out effective and efficient searches in bibliographic databases and other online searchable resources;

Be competent in formulating Boolean search strings and using truncation;

Be familiar with the primary search devices at Medline/PubMed, including various limits options and clinical queries;

Be aware of different types of 'free' access and understand the difference between free access and open access;

Be knowledgeable about key online information resources on their specific research questions;

Be competent in the basics of EndNote, including in downloading searches, managing reference libraries, and using the 'cite as you write' feature;

Be able to carry out an evaluation of a web site or other information resource;

Be aware of issues regarding plagiarism and be familiar with guidelines for the proper handling of accessed materials,

Content

The course is aimed at helping the participants develop 'mental maps' of information resources on their research topics and at giving them experience in accessing and navigating different types of online resources. The content includes the following:

Introduction to Modern Information Systems

Accessing informatioin at Uppsala University and elsewhere

Developing a better information strategy

Basic computer skills

Finding and accessing different types of resources

Finding references to the literature

Formulating search strings

Finding references to journal articles

Accessing full text of journal articles

Finding references to books and grey literature

Accessing full text of books and grey literature

Finding bibliographies and reference materials

Finding web sites using five tools

Processing the resources you access

Managing searches, references, texts, and addresses

Using EndNote

Handling text ethically

Citing your sources correctly

Judging the validity of resources

Finding informaiton for different professional purposes

Finding information for decision making

Finding information for teaching

Finding information for research and projects

Finding information for grant seeking

Fining information for writing

Finding information on specific topics

Finding geographically based information

Finding informaiton on medicine and health

Finding information about specialities

The participants develop individual guides to online information resources on topics of their choice, often about a thesis subject.

Instruction

The course begins with an overview of how different kinds of information are stored and how they can be retrieved. This introduction is followed by detailed coverage of information resources on specific topics, such as diseases, medications, nutrition, and so forth. The final section deals with the correct handling of references and full-text passages.

The first week of the course, each day is divided into several sessions, each beginning with a short live online presentation, which is then followed by a hands-on practice session. During the second week of the course, participants primarily carry out individual searches for web sites, databases, journal articles, e-books, and other resources on their own research topics and prepare their individual guides.

All course activities are in English, as are the guides prepared by the participants.

Assessment

Assessment is based on the individual information guides. The grades used are passed/failed.

Other regulations

Master's students in international health at Uppsala University may take this course, but the points will not count toward their Master's degree, since the content is similar to the information training they receive in required courses within the Master's programme.

Master-level students in other areas related to international development may also take the course.