Research services

Witer Learning Resource Centre research services

Information/research requests

We can:

  • Recommend web accessible resources to search
  • Suggest alternative words or boolean logic to help refine the search
  • Provide limited searching on a topic/keywords. If you are unsuccessful searching available resources, we can expand the search and provide a list of up to 20 citations

Research services do not include:

  • Comprehensive searching of all possible literature on a topic. We provide a list of up to 20 citations
  • Critical evaluation of search results. It is your responsibility to determine the validity and usefulness of the search results
  • Rush requests

To request research or information fill out anÌýInformation Request Form.

Finding clinically relevant research

Note: These databases contain both restricted and free journal articles.

Database Details

The Cochrane Library provides systematic review abstracts, technology assessments, economic evaluations and individual clinical trials.

Access to evidence-based medicine: synopses, clinical questions, systematic reviews, guidelines etc.
Most comprehensive biomedical journal index
A partnership between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (NRC-CISTI), the Canadian National Science Library, and the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM). All material is Open Acess and free of charge.
Quick search for clinical queries
Peer-reviewed biomedical research
Extensive coverage of optometric content

Finding patient information

Database Details
Produced by the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health's website for patients brings you free information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in plain language summaries.
Use the "Patient Information" tab following a search for your research question of interest.
Pharmaceutical drug overviews available under the "Info for Patients" tab.
The pages provide public-focused information for patients.

The Cochrane Library provides free plain language summaries for all their systematic reviews.

In addition to our available electronic resources, the Association of Vision Science Libraries provides a current list of free .