Leslie Gascon (she/they), MBA, MS(LIS), AHIP, is the Collection & Research Services Librarian of the University of Washington (UW) Health Sciences Library (HSL). 

Contact Leslie

• Email 
• Schedule a virtual meeting 

Immediate Assistance

• Ask Us service provides 24/7 librarian assistance 

Public Health Support

• Contact Leah DeSantis, Public Health & Research Services Librarian

Orientation

• Getting started at the Health Sciences Library (HSL)!

General Resources

Anti-racism 

• Bethany Barelman, Chelsea Riddle, and Theresa Mudrock's Guide: Racial Justice Resources 
• Linda Tuhiwai Smith's Ebook: Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples
• Shanda Hunt and Amy Riegelman's Guide: Conducting research through an anti-racism lens 
• Stacy Collins' Guide: Anti-Oppression 

Basics of searching 

• Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT
  • PB&J example
  • Julie Nanavati's video: Basics of Searching (example in PubMed)
• Turn off Smart Quotes in Microsoft products
  • Research about the consequences of straight and curly quotation marks in search methodology 

Citation management

• Software comparison
• Assistance 
• Citation tracking (forward and backward, also known as Cited Reference Searching) 
• Instructional video by Leslie Gascon 

Data

• Finding Data Guide
• Finding Health Statistics Guide

Evaluating information quality

• Help guides 

Google 

• Advanced search 
• Set up your library in Google Scholar 
• Tips for searching Google and Google Scholar like a pro

Writing assistance 

• Odegaard Writing & Research Center (OWRC) appointments and resources 
• Conducting a Literature Review video by Leslie Gascon 
• Reporting Your Search video by Leslie Gascon 
• The Literature Review: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide article by Scribbr 
• Twenty Steps to Writing a Research Article by Beth A. Fischer and Michael J. Zigmond, Survival Skills and Ethics Program, University of Pittsburgh 
• HSL Writer's Guide

The creation and maintenance of library guides are a collaborative effort at the UW. Thank you to my colleagues for their help and support in making these guides as thoughtful and thorough as they are!

Collections Guides

Research Guides

Special Interest Areas

All Health Sciences Library Guides

Guides

Educator Resources

Books

News

Guides to Popular Databases

Check if your search's parentheses are working the way you expected with medsyntax.org!

How to structure a search with Boolean operators and parentheses:

• With a structured research question 
• Example of a search in nutritional sciences 

Embase 

• Embase help guide 
• Recommend PICO search tab to add synonyms 
• Wildcards 
• Instructional video by Leslie Gascon 

CINAHL Complete

• CINAHL help guide

PsycInfo 

• Guide to finding qualitative studies 
• Instructional video series by Julie Nanavati 

PubMed 

• PubMed help guide
• FYI: PubMed searches MEDLINE, PubMed Central (PMC), and Bookshelf.
• Search fields 
  • Recommend Text Words [TW] for greater recall then Title/Abstract [TIAB] for greater specificity 
    • Both TW and TIAB search author keywords 
  • Using MeSH and Text Words together provides better recall than on their own (source) 
  • Proximity searching 
    • Video tutorial 
    • Available as of November 2022 
  • Subheading hierarchy 
• Wildcards 
• Instructional video series by Julie Nanavati 
  • If you have time for just one, watch this one on the Basics of Searching 
• Un-validated search strategies (also known as search hedges). Even if you edit the hedge, cite your source. 
  • Black Americans and racial disparities/racism, 11/2021 (no longer updated)
  • Health disparities search, 2019 (no longer updated) 
  • Health equity filter (update unknown) 
  • Latinx/Hispanic US population, 2021 (update unknown) 
  • Low and middle income countries (LMIC) search, 2020 (evaluated June 2020) 
  • Healthy People 2020 Structured Evidence Queries, September 2021 by PH Partners (no longer updated)
  • Hedges from ISSG, including for SDOH (social determinants of health)
    • Unvalidated SDOH search string by Lisa Acuff, AHIP (Feb. 2023): "social determinants"[Title/Abstract:~2] retrieved 'social and structural determinants of health', 'social and psychological determinants', where 'social determinants' does not appear next to 'of health', where 'health' is modified like 'social determinants of oral health' or 'social determinants of mental health', and other variations like 'social determinants of vulnerability' or 'social determinants of racial disparities'.
  • More hedges, including for SDOH

Web of Science 

• Web of Science help guide 
• Search fields 
  • Recommend Topic, TS=(), to search keywords in title, abstract, and keywords
• Wildcards 
• Proximity operators 

More Databases 

• More database help guides

While we're all located in different areas, I want to acknowledge the land I live, work, and play on. I also encourage you to take some time today to learn more about the land you're on. 

I am located in Seattle, Washington, the land of the Coast Salish peoples, "land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Duwamish, Puyallup, Suquamish, Tulalip, and Muckleshoot nations" (source). I am here because Indigenous peoples were violently removed and kept away from this land. 

"For over 30 years, Cecile Hansen has been the elected chair of the Duwamish Tribe. [She] is the great great grandniece of Chief Si’ahl'." The Honorable Chair Hansen's motto of "We are still here" expresses her people's fortitude as the Duwamish continue their 165-year fight for federal recognition. (Source) 

I would also like to unequivocally state that Black Lives Matter; I support Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; and I stand with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, asexual, and gender queer folks. 

As an ally speaking to allies, in the face of "hate, we must work together to fight for members of our Black, [Indigenous, APPI and other People of Color communities], to resist, expose and disrupt [systemic] power structures that threaten to carry out discrimination and violence against" Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color. "Moreover, we need to put in the work to create a more inclusive environment within our spaces and communities; no one is exempt." (Source)

Learn more about where you live. 

The Health Sciences Library's mission is to advance scholarship, research, education, and health care by anticipating information needs, providing essential resources, and facilitating learning for the greater health sciences community.

Learn more.

Leslie's LinkedIn 

Leslie's ORCID: 0000-0001-7363-8839