Power Searching & Database Tools
Michigan eLibrary Resources
The Michigan Electronic Library, or MeL, is available to any Michigan resident with an internet connection. MeL provides access to databases that contain scholarly, practitioner, and quality consumer health information. It is a resource you can use even if you don't have access to WSU Library resources, and the communities you work with should have access to it too.
- MeL eResourcesA collection of databases and eResources from MeL, many of which are Health-related, available to any Michigan resident. Includes consumer, practitioner, and academic health resources.
- MeL eJournal CollectionA collection of eJournals and other publications available through MeL which are organized by discipline.
Understanding information sources
Finding scholarly information
- PICO Search Strategy WorksheetThis worksheet can be used to help develop a strategy for searching using the PICO method and to keep track of keywords and synonyms used in searches. If the worksheet is downloaded, the fields can be filled out and saved for later.
You can start your search using Summon (the search box below), the Library's discovery system. This is a very broad search that will find full-text articles, books, and more. The other databases listed will provide more targeted information as they are more specialized.
For all of them, you can use the limiters on the left side of your search results to select Scholarly/Peer Review (depends on the database) and Journal Article to get articles from peer-reviewed scholarly journals.
- PsycINFO This link opens in a new windowContains citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, and technical reports in the field of psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines including medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business, and law.
- CINAHL Complete This link opens in a new windowCINAHL Complete is a comprehensive source of full text for nursing & allied health journals, providing full text for more than 750 journals indexed in CINAHL. This authoritative file contains full text for many of the most used journals in the CINAHL index with no embargo. CINAHL Complete is the definitive research tool for all areas of nursing and allied health literature.
- PubMed@Wayne This link opens in a new windowPubMed is a project developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)--Overview. NLM's search service to access the 9 million citations in MEDLINE and Pre-MEDLINE (with links to participating on-line journals), and other related databases --Home page.
- Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition This link opens in a new windowHealth Source: Nursing/Academic Edition provides researchers, allied health professionals, nurses and medical educators with access to full-text scholarly journals focusing on many medical disciplines. It provides indexing, abstracts and full-text for hundreds of nursing and allied health journals, many of which are peer-reviewed.
Health Stats and Demographic Data
Publicly accessible
- PubMed Central This link opens in a new windowFree online access to fulltext of life science research articles, provided by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
- U.S. Census BureauThe Census Bureau's QuckFacts feature provides quick, basic demographic data at the state, county, and city/town (pop. 5000+) levels.
- SEMCOG (Southeast Michigan Council of Governments)SEMCOG is a membership organization of local governments in the greater Detroit area. They work with local elected leaders to help solve regional issues that extend beyond individual governmental boundaries.
- Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS)Formerly the Michigan Department of Community Health. By clicking on Inside MDHHS and then Health Statistics and Reports, you can access reports and statistics related to health issues and number of enrollees in health-related state programs.
WSU credentials required
- Social Explorer This link opens in a new windowThis resource is made possible through the partnership of the Center for Urban Studies and the University Library System. Use Social Explorer to visualize and interact with data, create maps, charts, reports and downloads that help you reach your goals. Explore hundreds of thousands of built-in data indicators related to demography, economy, health, politics, environment, crime and more. Easily add your own data for further impact.
- DemographicsNow: Business & People This link opens in a new windowResearchers and entrepreneurs are provided with comprehensive business and demographic information valuable to assess business viability, create sales leads and marketing mailing lists, complete location analyses and business plans, analyze population trends, find potential sponsors and donors and much more. This versatile database is useful for those who want to start a business as well as those who want to take their established business to the next level. Michigan residents or WSU community.