Information Research Skills Questionnaire for those undertaking research projects

Information Research Skills Questionnaire

Yes=1 No=0

I have basic keyboard skills

I regularly use the Internet

I use social media to communicate with research colleagues

I have spoken to my NHS Librarian about my research project

I use internet search engines, such as Google, to find information

I am a guest user of other NHS libraries

I use online catalogues such as COPAC to check for books on my topic

I am aware of the University/Organizations citation standard for printed materials

I am aware of the University/Organizations citation standard for electronic materials

I am aware of guest membership arrangements for Universities in the region

I have registered for an NHS Open Athens Account

I am in regular e-mail contact with my NHS Librarian

I have ordered journal articles through Inter-Library Loan [ILL]

I can name the major bibliographic databases in my field of research

I can name the key journals that regularly publish articles in my area of research

I have accessed databases using NICE Evidence Search using my NHS Open Athens User Name and password

My research has informed recommendations to the NHS Librarian to buy books and journals

I have accessed the full text of journal articles on the Internet

I have downloaded  the full text of journals articles from major databases, such as Medline / CINAHL / EMBASE

I regularly review the tables of contents key journals in my research area

I know how to access databases from my home or computers outside work

I have searched bibliographic databases using the AUTHOR field to find articles written by leading authors in my area of research

I receive updates from current awareness services and recommender systems such as Spharro

I have set up an online public profile using a profiling tool such as ResearchGate, Mendeley or LinkedIN

I use, or plan to use a Reference Management Software package such as Mendeley or Zotero

I understand and use Boolean operators [AND OR NOT] to link keywords when searching bibliographic databases

I use the Advanced Search screen when searching bibliographic databases for example NICE Evidence Search HDAS

I have registered for an ORCiD account

I plan searches of bibliographic databases identifying concepts and keywords

I incorporate terms from online thesauri in my selection of keywords when searching bibliographic databases

I use truncation when inputting keywords into bibliographic databases

I use proximity commands when inputting keywords into bibliographic databases

I understand the principles behind Citation Searching

I have identified key articles that underpin my research topic that are suitable for Citation Searching

I have used free to access databases that contain citation data such as Pubmed, Google Scholar, ScienceOpen, ResearchGate and MicroSoft Academic

I have set up search alerts for my research topics in major databases

I have searched institutional repositories for possible alternative sources of research such as CORE, BASE and SHARE

I have searched for previous completed Ph.D.'s in my research area using the British Libraries EThOS

Total Score