CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature)

Search Examples

1. Performing a Keyword/Subject Search:

Type in keywords into separate search boxes: bariatric surgery and anesthesia – you do
not have to change search fields.

• You can narrow your search to make it more specific by selecting

“limiting” boxes on the lower part of the search page.

• Click or type in specifics in limit boxes. For example: Publication year =

2002-2008 and choose “peer reviewed”.

• You can select many other limit boxes or categories, but keep in mind that
adding more “limits” will narrow your search and limit your retrieval.

• After entering your keywords and limit selections, click search. You will
retrieve 16 articles.

• You can then click on the article title for any of the 16 citations and obtain
detailed records for each article which will show: article title, author(s),
source, language, subjects, and the abstract of the article (if an abstract is
present).

• On the results screen, you can click on “Add to folder” for any of the 16
citations. The citation(s) chosen will be added to a folder (at the top) for
later use during the search session.

• Also, on the results screen, for any of the 16 articles, you can also click
on “360 Link to Full Text” to see if the article has full text access. If there

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 is no full text available, you can then click on “Request Digital Delivery of
the article” and follow these steps:

• Select home institution

• Enter Access ID and PW

• Click “submit”

• Review article details

• Enter date “needed by”

• Click submit

• Click OK

• Article ordered

2. Performing an Author Search combined with a specific article the person has written:

• Type in the author’s name in the first search box : last name followed by
first and middle initials: Venable HD, then select the AU (author) field by
selecting this from the pull-down menu. This will limit the searching to an
author.

• In the second separate box, type in the title of an article: Anesthesia for
Bariatric Surgery, and then select the TI (title) field by selecting this from
the pull-down menu. This will limit this search box to a title.

• Then, click search. You will see that you retrieve one article citation:

Anesthesia for bariatric surgery. Venable HD; Schlink CL Plastic Surgical

Nursing, 2004 Jul-Sep; 24 (3): 99-101 (journal article)

• You can then click on the article title itself to obtain a detailed record for
this article which will show: article title, author(s), source, language,

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 subjects, and no abstract. You can also add citations to the “save” folder
(as in KW search).

• On the results screen, you can also click on “360 Link to Full Text” to see
if the article has full text access. If there is no full text available, you can
then click on “Request Digital Delivery of the article” by following these
steps:

• Select home institution

• Enter Access ID and PW

• Click “submit”

• Review article details

• Enter date “needed by”

• Click submit

• Click OK

• Article ordered

3. Performing a Journal Title Search and then adding a subject:

• Type in a journal title abbreviation or a full journal title into the first search
box, for example: AANA (for American Association of Nurse
Anesthetists), then select the SO (journal title) field by selecting this from
the pull-down menu. This will limit the searching to a source (e.g.
journal).

• In the second separate box, type in the subject: bariatric surgery. No

field need be specified.

• Then click search. You will see that you have retrieved one article in the
AANA Journal on the topic, bariatric surgery:

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 The frequency of respiratory failure in patients with morbid obesity
undergoing gastric bypass. (includes abstract); Blouw EL; Rudolph AD;
Narr BJ; Sarr MG AANA Journal, 2003 Feb; 71 (1): 45-50 (journal article -
research, tables/charts)

• You can then click on the article title itself to obtain a detailed record for
this article which will show: article title, author(s), source, language,
subjects, and the abstract of the article. You can also add citations to the
“save” folder (as in KW search).

• On the results screen, you can also click on “360 Link to Full Text” to see
if the article has full text access. If there is no full text available, you can
then click on “Request Digital Delivery of the article” by following these
steps:

• Select home institution

• Enter Access ID and PW

• Click “submit”

• Review article details

• Enter date “needed by”

• Click submit

• Click OK

• Article ordered

In all three search examples, if an article is ordered, it will be delivered via e-mail from
the ArticleLinker Service.

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Nancy A. Wilmes, Nursing Librarian Liaison, 8/25/08