title: Using the Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) database: how do clinicians really search?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
authors: Department of Primary Health Care, Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, University of Oxford, Rosemary Rue Building, Headington, Oxford, United Kingdom. emma.meats@dphpc.ox.ac.uk
authors: Emma
authors: E
authors: Meats
authors: Jon
authors: J
authors: Brassey
authors: Carl
authors: C
authors: Heneghan
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Glasziou
mesh_terms: D000043:Abstracting and Indexing; D019992:Databases as Topic; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D020407:Internet; D010820:Physicians