Module 2, Question 3

I think each index/search engine has it's place. The guideline index would definitely be most useful to practitioners. It is also a good index because others have done all the research for you to come up with the current guidelines. It is also very specific. When I put in my search terms in the guideline index, I only got 2 items, and they were very specific. The other two methods were not as specific.

As a future instructor, I think the electronic indexes will be very useful. Since I won't have patients sitting right in front of me, waiting for me to make decisions on their care, I won't necessarily need the fast, specific information that is provided with the guidelines index. I will however, need access to the guidelines to teach my students the latest in about them, but I will also use the other indexes as well. The Google search was almost silly. So many items come up with Google, it's overwhelming. The other problem with the Google search, is that the first citations to come up are not ususally "scholarly" items. They seem to be aimed at the lay public. I tended to find things like support groups as opposed to legitimate research items. However, to the lay person, this is probably a good research tool to simply find out general information in order to speak somewhat intelligently to their provider. We just have to teach our patients which are reliable sources to turn to. In a previous class, someone suggested only recommending websites that end in "edu" or "org." I think that is good advice.