Tips from NARIC on Perfecting your Database and Online Search Strategies: Getting to Know REHABDATA

In this edition of “Tips from NARIC” we introduce (or reintroduce) you to our REHABDATA literature database. REHABDATA, produced by the National Rehabilitation Information Center, is the leading literature database on disability and rehabilitation. The database describes over 80,000 documents covering physical, mental, and psychiatric disabilities, independent living, vocational rehabilitation, special education, assistive technology, law, employment, and other issues as they relate to people with disabilities. The collection spans 1956 to the present. Three main categories of documents are included: (1) reports, studies, and papers submitted by projects funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (as featured in the NIDRR Program Directory); (2) articles published in rehabilitation-related periodicals; and (3) commercially published books. Some non-print materials are also included. You can access REHABDATA and all of our databases online 24 hours a day for free at www.naric.com.

From our home page you can perform a quick basic search of our website for articles from the NARIC library, research projects, organizations, and NARIC publications (including News and Notes).

Our information page on Exploring the NARIC Collection provides patrons with the various ways to explore REHABDATA including: advance searching, browsing by keyword using the REHABDATA Thesaurus, browsing by journal title or by book publisher, and browsing recent acquisitions.

Explore REHABDATA:

• Search every field or specific fields.
• Browse by keyword (the REHABDATA Thesaurus).
• Browse by journal title.
• Browse by book publisher.
• Browse recent acquisitions and sign up for our literature awareness service.

You can perform an advance search of REHABDATA at naric.com/?q=en/SearchRehabdata. From this page you can enter your keywords and use various options to limit search results to include multiple words/terms, exact phrases, at least one of several words/terms, and without (not include) certain words/terms. If you are interested in the topic of brain injury you may wish to search using “at least one of these words” for brain and head so that the results will include either descriptor. You can narrow the search results between certain years (i.e. 2015 to 2005 for results over a ten year span). Additionally, you can search for documents whose full text is available online and/or are available through NARIC’s Document Delivery Service.

If you are uncertain or looking for alternative word choices you browse the REHABDATA Thesaurus http://naric.com/?q=en/Browse_Thesaurus. You can locate your term alphabetically. For example, if you click on “B” you will see “brain injury” listed. The webpage provides the scope of the term, related terms; as well as, other terms brain jury is used for (i.e., closed head injuries, traumatic brain injury, etc.).

In addition to REHABDATA we also maintain the NARIC Knowledgebase and the NIDRR Program databases.

The NARIC Knowledgebase contains more than 3,000 resources ranging from organizations and agencies to periodicals and Web resources. Each listing includes contact information, an abstract, and highlights of the products and services offered. The NARIC Knowledgebase is similar to the REHABDATA advance search page and allows users to narrow results by just organizations, journals/newsletters, databases, and/or directories on a specific term or phrase. You can search the NARIC Knowledgebase at http://www.naric.com/?q=en/Knowledgebase.

Finally, NARIC also maintains the NIDRR Program Database. The NIDRR Program Database includes more than 2,500 current and completed projects funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research from 1986 to present. Each listing includes contact names and information, a project abstract, and links to related resources. Similar to the REHABDATA advance search page the NIDRR Program Database allows users to limit search results to include multiple words/terms, exact phrases, at least one of several words/terms, and without (not include) certain words/terms but also includes an option to select funding status, ability to sort results by project start date (newest to oldest as well as oldest to newest), project ascending and descending, project title, and state. Users can also choose to search by project type and funding priority. The database also allows users to perform truncated or wildcard search use an asterisk (i.e. Employ* or H133*).

In our next article, we will delve deeper and explore the advanced search functions of REHABDATA based on previous patron requests. Until then…happy searching!