In conducting a search on the web for a clinical issue be prepared for a horrendous amount of useless information. Most of the information was not applicable for clinical use. The data that was retrieved for the web search was more for informational use for the layman. There were several pharmaceutical sites with small bits of information related to my topic. The pharmaceutical sites resembled web based infomercials trying to entice me to buy their product. There was really no way to narrow the search to only needed information, it was an all or nothing search.
Searching by using a guideline index was very difficult to retrieve information on my subject. If you were looking for general information this would be a fairly convenient way to find information. Clicking a category within a box and getting a response is immediately is rather gratifying. However, the information retrieved was very informative but not exactly what I needed. I did love clicking the box and awaiting a return, it was like Christmas. I found myself mesmerized awaiting the return. In fact I just started clicking different things just to see the results. However, I did not find anything relevant to my topic.
Using PubMed was the most effective of the three. I found it more effective or mentally effective to be able to search the key words that seemed relevant to my topic. Having the ability to narrow the search to only full-text articles, and adding limits made using PubMed more applicable. The information retrieved was based toward a clinical mind. If not able to narrow your search the data retrieval could become overwhelming. This is where having the ability to sort and add a limit is key. Knowing how to navigate effectively will add to the success of your search.