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Being able to effectively and efficiently search for quality research in the sciences of food and health is a key skill for students and researchers. These new tutorials for FSTA on Ovid are designed to give you an overview of FSTA content and the essential skills to search the FSTA database and find quality literature successfully.

 

What's included

FSTA Tutorial Part 1 (approx. 10 minutes)

  • What content FSTA includes
  • What content FSTA excludes (predatory journals and fake science)

FSTA Tutorial Part 2 (approx. 15 minutes)

  • What the information in FSTA looks like—what is it exactly that you search when you search FSTA?
  • How the FSTA thesaurus helps organize that information, and helps you find what you need
  • How to choose and find keywords for building a search
  • How to connect keywords with Boolean operators to add precision to your search
  • How to apply filters for even more precision

FSTA Tutorial Part 3 (approx. 15 minutes)

  • What subject headings are
  • How to map them, and explode them, and when you might want to do either
  • What the difference is between subject headings and subject words
  • How to combine keywords and subject headings for a better search

FSTA Tutorial Part 4 (approx. 20 minutes)

  • How to put your search skills into practice (You will need to log into your organisational FSTA access on Ovid to complete this section)
  • Review what you've learned

certificate of completion

  • Available upon completion of all 4 parts

 

Get the free tutorial

Enter your details using the form and we will check that you have FSTA access on Ovid.

It’s best to use your institutional email address when completing the form because our system may recognise your institution's access automatically and send you the tutorial links immediately.  (If the automatic mapping doesn’t work, one of the team will get back to you within 2 working days.)

Please note: this tutorial is specifically designed for those with access to FSTA on Ovid.

 

Support for Librarians and Faculty

We encourage the use of this tutorial as part of library or department training. Please feel free to incorporate it into your own resources or use within classes.

To have the tutorials personalised for your institution, department or course, please contact us

 

About the course creator

Carol Hollier, former Senior Information Literacy and Outreach Manager, IFIS Publishing

Carol worked as Senior Information and Literacy Outreach Manager at IFIS Publishing, before leaving in 2023 to join the University of Iowa Sciences Library as Sciences Reference and Outreach Librarian. Before joining IFIS, Carol worked in instruction librarian roles for over 10 years at universities in the US and UK. She holds a Master’s in Library and Information Science, a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.