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Dental Hygiene

How to find reliable & evidence-based information on dental hygiene in books, journals, magazines, and websites.

Search Tips

List keywords, synonyms, alternative spellings or related search terms for your topic. Google has taught us to type in our entire question to get results, but searching library resources requires keywords for more relevant searching.

Example: Instead of Gum Disease try a specific disease like Gingivitis or periodontal disease

Tips: 

  • Make a list of all the keywords you want to search 
  • Refer back to the list when you have an interruption in your searching time

Evaluate your results for content. Ask yourself:

  • When was it written? Is the information current?
  • Who wrote it? Are they an expert?
  • Can the information be verified by another source?
  • Is the information biased?

It is especially important to evaluate information found on the web, when doing academic research it is best to use credible academic sources!

  • A good rule of thumb is to have AT LEAST one more source than the number of pages you are required to write, but always follow your instructor’s requirements.
  • Search your topics in a library catalog or database.
  • Always check your spelling when searching.

Methods of Evaluation

Ask yourself questions when evaluating resources for use in assignments.  There are many variations of evaluation methods you may have seen such as C.R.A.A.P. (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose) T.R.A.A.P. (which labels Timeliness rather than Currency);  A CRAB (Authority, Currency, Relevance, Accuracy, Bias); C.A.R.S (Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness, Support); the 5 W's and an H (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How).  All evaluation methods ask you to ask yourself questions to make sure the resource is the best fit for your research!

 

Subjects: Dental Hygiene
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