Searching for the evidence: a practical guide to some online databases in chiropractic and osteopathy.
BACKGROUND
Chiropractic and Osteopathy are categorised within the family of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) by most indexers and database managers. CAM therapies can be difficult to search because relevant resources are spread over a number of databases.


OBJECTIVE
This paper aims to introduce basic searching skills for six databases which offer CAM literature.


METHODS
Six readily available databases which can be used by a busy clinician to remain informed about best practice were chosen. The databases were searched and compared using two clinical scenarios as sample searches.


CONCLUSIONS
Evidence-based practice demands that practitioners maintain their information gathering skills, but no one source provides all the answers. We are lured by the thought that everything is available on the web easily and speedily, but may sacrifice quality for ease and speed of retrieval.
Parkhill
Anne
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