Using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database: how do clinicians really search?

OBJECTIVES: Clinicians and patients are increasingly accessing information through Internet searches. This study aimed to examine clinicians' current search behavior when using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database to examine search engine use and the ways it might be improved. ME...

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Main Authors: Meats, E, Brassey, J, Heneghan, C, Glasziou, P
Format: Journal article
Jezik:English
Izdano: 2007
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author Meats, E
Brassey, J
Heneghan, C
Glasziou, P
author_facet Meats, E
Brassey, J
Heneghan, C
Glasziou, P
author_sort Meats, E
collection OXFORD
description OBJECTIVES: Clinicians and patients are increasingly accessing information through Internet searches. This study aimed to examine clinicians' current search behavior when using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database to examine search engine use and the ways it might be improved. METHODS: A Web log analysis was undertaken of the TRIP database-a meta-search engine covering 150 health resources including MEDLINE, The Cochrane Library, and a variety of guidelines. The connectors for terms used in searches were studied, and observations were made of 9 users' search behavior when working with the TRIP database. RESULTS: Of 620,735 searches, most used a single term, and 12% (n = 75,947) used a Boolean operator: 11% (n = 69,006) used "AND" and 0.8% (n = 4,941) used "OR." Of the elements of a well-structured clinical question (population, intervention, comparator, and outcome), the population was most commonly used, while fewer searches included the intervention. Comparator and outcome were rarely used. Participants in the observational study were interested in learning how to formulate better searches. CONCLUSIONS: Web log analysis showed most searches used a single term and no Boolean operators. Observational study revealed users were interested in conducting efficient searches but did not always know how. Therefore, either better training or better search interfaces are required to assist users and enable more effective searching.
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spelling oxford-uuid:7d100e9b-a6d3-4d47-8d9a-7b084151cd812022-03-26T21:01:03ZUsing the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database: how do clinicians really search?Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:7d100e9b-a6d3-4d47-8d9a-7b084151cd81EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2007Meats, EBrassey, JHeneghan, CGlasziou, P OBJECTIVES: Clinicians and patients are increasingly accessing information through Internet searches. This study aimed to examine clinicians' current search behavior when using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database to examine search engine use and the ways it might be improved. METHODS: A Web log analysis was undertaken of the TRIP database-a meta-search engine covering 150 health resources including MEDLINE, The Cochrane Library, and a variety of guidelines. The connectors for terms used in searches were studied, and observations were made of 9 users' search behavior when working with the TRIP database. RESULTS: Of 620,735 searches, most used a single term, and 12% (n = 75,947) used a Boolean operator: 11% (n = 69,006) used "AND" and 0.8% (n = 4,941) used "OR." Of the elements of a well-structured clinical question (population, intervention, comparator, and outcome), the population was most commonly used, while fewer searches included the intervention. Comparator and outcome were rarely used. Participants in the observational study were interested in learning how to formulate better searches. CONCLUSIONS: Web log analysis showed most searches used a single term and no Boolean operators. Observational study revealed users were interested in conducting efficient searches but did not always know how. Therefore, either better training or better search interfaces are required to assist users and enable more effective searching.
spellingShingle Meats, E
Brassey, J
Heneghan, C
Glasziou, P
Using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database: how do clinicians really search?
title Using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database: how do clinicians really search?
title_full Using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database: how do clinicians really search?
title_fullStr Using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database: how do clinicians really search?
title_full_unstemmed Using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database: how do clinicians really search?
title_short Using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database: how do clinicians really search?
title_sort using the turning research into practice trip database how do clinicians really search
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