This tutorial is intended to guide Nursing students at ODU in finding information they need for courses, as well as for possible research after graduation.  Performing a comprehensive search to locate journal articles, books, and other materials has never been an easy task.  And, now, with the information explosion, it can be even more difficult unless you learn how to take advantage of the wealth of electronic resources available.  That's what this tutorial is all about.

It may take 3-4 hours to complete the entire tutorial, depending on your skills and knowledge. 

Of the 5 sections, Section II on Finding Journal Articles is by far the longest, but possibly the most important to your library search. You may wish to break this lesson up, rather than trying to tackle it in one sitting. Section IV on Internet Resources is also important -- most important is to note that you need to evaluate and use Web sites carefully. The exercises and quizzes are there to reinforce what you've learned.  No one else sees the results. 

At the beginning of the tutorial is a "tour" of the library's website to help those of you who are unfamiliar with where to find the library's resources and services.  There is also a separate section on search techniques that you can apply whether you are searching for books in the online catalog or citations to journal articles in an electronic database. 

Within the tutorial you will find guided searches of the ODU Online Catalog, CINAHL on the Ovid system, WorldCat on the FirstSearch system, and Health Reference Center on the InfoTrac system.   These will give you practice in performing some actual searches. The features you will use on each search system will apply to all databases in that system.

Assumptions that have been made:

• you have access to a computer (with java enabled)
• you can use a computer and a mouse
• you can use a Web browser (BACK, FORWARD, and clicks on hypertext links should be all you need to know for this tutorial). in many cases, when a link opens a new window, simply click anywhere in the original tutorial window to return to the tutorial page
• you understand that an online tutorial is meant to be read online -- not printed (you would go through a lot of paper if you printed it)
• you will contact me if you have trouble with any aspect of the tutorial

If you have any questions about the tutorial or need help with a difficult research topic, please feel free to contact Karen Vaughan (kvaughan@odu.edu) or  call 757-683-4184. If you're out of the calling area, call 1-800-968-2638 and ask to be transferred to my number.