How do Google, Google Scholar, and Other Google Tools Help Health Professionals Navigate the Oceans of Information? Kevin Pardon, MLIS, AHIP Virginia Pannabecker, MA, MA (IRLS), AHIP Arizona State University Libraries Introduction Results We wondered: 1) What Google tools are Health Sciences Researchers and Healthcare Professionals using, and how are they using them? Health Sciences Researchers and Healthcare Professionals use many Google tools for a variety of purposes. 2) How effective are Google and/or Google Scholar for literature searching? Google Scholar: A valuable tool for literature searching. • Unique, highly relevant results Google Tools Usage in Health Sciences Research 7.7% 4.6% 4.2% Literature Review Meta-Analysis/Systematic Review Other Uses Other Tools 35% Top Search Strategies • Review 50-100+ results for maximum benefit of recall and precision rates Methods Public Health and Patient Education Researchers used Google Earth to identify and visualize relationships between health events, conditions, or health care use and geographical regions. We searched for: ‘Google’ across five health sciences related databases (CINAHL, Cochrane, PsycInfo, PubMed, Web of Science) and in Google Scholar*. We reviewed the first 100 citations from each database and selected results that: Google Earth Primary Research 17% Other Uses 83% 1) Mentioned use of a Google tool We charted the uses of Google Tools. We noted best practices from the articles (15) whose focus was the effectiveness of Google and/or Google Scholar for literature searching. 5% 19% Total Citations Reviewed 600 22 578 Poster PDF and Reference List: hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.17663 267 Google Analytics Citation Research Literature Review 28% 9% Google Scholar 7% Other Tools Citation Research Primary Research Literature Review 33% 49% 42% Meta-Analysis/Systematic Review Primary Research • Use advanced search, limits, and other options • PubMed has more results for recently published research 86% 2% • Place operators in ALL CAPS: “childhood obesity” AND (Arizona OR California) Considerations Other Uses Other Uses 58% Other Uses Healthcare Professionals used Google Docs for interactive assignments in medical education and Google Calendar as a tool to manage prospective memory deficits following acquired brain injury. • Replicate previous studies to generate longitudinal data • How much applicable evidence may be missed on average in a systematic review if results of a Google Scholar search are not included? • To what extent are Google and/or Google Scholar particularly useful for identifying documents from multiple geographical regions and languages? • Phrases: “childhood obesity” Other Uses Primary Research 46% • Use Google-friendly formatting Primary Research 14% Meta-Analysis/Systematic Review *For Google Scholar we searched: health AND google Total Citations that met inclusion Criteria Google 2% 2) Discussed the effectiveness of Google or Google Scholar in scholarly literature searching Duplicate Citations Removed • Added value: cited references and related articles • Keep your search simple Multiple Tools Total Citations Retrieved • Transdisciplinary research Primary Research 27.8% Google & Google Scholar 2.1% 2.1% 49.8% 24% Google Earth Google Scholar Citation Research 9.1% Google Analytics 30.9% 3) What other research is needed in this area? How Tools Were Used Google 2.8% Why Use Google Scholar? Future Research • For quick high precision searching - use PubMed Clinical Queries or similar tools • Google Scholar offers less options to Refine Searches • Google Scholar searches are not reliably replicable due to Google’s personalization of search results Takeaways Use of Google Tools • Health Sciences Researchers • Gather and manipulate data • Visualize and disseminate results • Healthcare Professionals • Facilitate interventions • Create interactive educational materials Google Scholar and Literature Searching • Unique content makes it a valuable complement to subject specific databases