Search Engine/Database Comparison and Self Reflection paper

Search Engine/Database Comparison
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Search Engine/Database Comparison
Introduction
Clinicians and allied healthcare professionals have to access evidence-based literature in their professional settings. Such kinds of literature are available either as journal publications or open resources. Hence, different search engines are used to retrieve such information. However, the concerned stakeholders must ensure that the source of the searched information is reliable, valid, and authoritative. It is often noted that professionals and students often access certain search engines which promise ease of retrieving information, however; such information may be too generalized or not peer-reviewed (Hunt, Jaeschke, and McKibbon, 2000). The present article compared the dynamics of retrieving health information through a general search engine (www.google.com) and a specific clinical search engine (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). The search dynamics would be evaluated based on the authority, reliability, accessibility, and popularity.
Case Brief
The health topic that was taken up for the search was “Causes of Hypertension.” The search through the Google webpage (www.google.com) produced 5, 71,000 results with the URL (https://www.google.co.in/search?dcr=0&ei=Yq6OWuD9A4XV0ASEvZWoBg&q=hypertension+causes&oq=hypertension+causes&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l10.32816.35065.0.35864.7.7.0.0.0.0.578.1065.4-1j1.2.0….0…1c.1.64.psy-ab..5.2.1065…0i67k1j0i131i67k1.

0.vMfIq4m_QVU). On the other hand, the same keywords were fed in Pubmed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?holding=ohiolinklib,mcolib_fft_ndi&otool=mcolib&myncbishare=mcolib) produced 2, 31, 626 results under the URL (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=hypertension+causes).
Analysis
Authority
The articles that were retrieved through www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (Pubmed) yielded more authoritative compared to the articles that were retrieved through www.google.com. Such conclusions could be drawn from the search results that were reflected on the first page of each search engine. The articles that were reflected on the first page of the Google webpage are more generalized. For example, a first few articles in the Google webpage include sources such as webmd.com, mayoclinic.com, and medicalnewstoday.com. Although the Google search produced pertinent and generalized results, however; none of these sources could be referred as an evidence-based literature. On the contrary, the articles that were reflected on the first page of Pubmed were more specific and authoritative. For example, the first two articles reflected in the Pubmed webpage belonged to reputed journals such as Journal of Vascular Surgery and Prog. Cardiovasc. Dis. Although the articles were authoritative and evidence-based, however; the articles were too specific and technical. To recall, an article is considered authoritative, if it is published in a peer-reviewed journal having a high impact factor.
Number of Hits
The generalized search for the causes of hypertension produced 5, 71,000 and 2, 31, 626 results in the Google and Pubmed WebPages respectively. However, the search was narrowed down to “Common secondary causes of resistant hypertension and treatment,” 6, 36, 00,000 and 5 results were retrieved through the Google and Pubmed WebPages respectively.
Relevance
An individual trying to gather common information would certainly fall back on the Google webpage. This is because the articles reflected in Google are more aligned with the general search terms. On the contrary, individuals, belonging to the clinical domain or scientific research would find the results of Pubmed webpage more worthy. For example, when the search was narrowed to a specific domain of causes of hypertension “Common secondary causes of resistant hypertension and treatment,” the article authored by Faselis, Doumas, and Papademetriou (2011) was reflected as the first article in both Google (https://www.google.co.in/search?dcr=0&biw=1280&bih=694&ei=v7uOWurXCcmp0ASc5afQAg&q=Common+Secondary+Causes+of+Resistant+Hypertension+and+Rational+for+Treatment&oq=Common+Secondary+Causes+of+Resistant+Hypertension+and+Rational+for+Treatment&gs_l=psy-ab.12..0i22i10i30k1l2.4809.4809.0.6418.1.1.0.0.0.0.386.386.3-1.1.0….0…1c.2.64.psy-ab..0.1.383….0.Mj8Xsu9DI58) and Pubmed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Common+Secondary+Causes+of+Resistant+Hypertension+and+Rational+for+Treatment)
Search Features
The relevant URLs for the general topic (causes of hypertension) were https://www.google.co.in/search?dcr=0&ei=Yq6OWuD9A4XV0ASEvZWoBg&q=hypertension+causes&oq=hypertension+causes&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l10.32816.35065.0.35864.7.7.0.0.0.0.578.1065.4-1j1.2.0….0…1c.1.64.psy-ab..5.2.1065…0i67k1j0i131i67k1.0.vMfIq4m_QVU and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=hypertension+causes. On the other hand, relevant URLs for the specific topic (Common secondary causes of resistant hypertension and treatment) were (https://www.google.co.in/search?dcr=0&biw=1280&bih=694&ei=v7uOWurXCcmp0ASc5afQAg&q=Common+Secondary+Causes+of+Resistant+Hypertension+and+Rational+for+Treatment&oq=Common+Secondary+Causes+of+Resistant+Hypertension+and+Rational+for+Treatment&gs_l=psy-ab.12..0i22i10i30k1l2.4809.4809.0.6418.1.1.0.0.0.0.386.386.3-1.1.0….0…1c.2.64.psy-ab..0.1.383….0.Mj8Xsu9DI58) for Google and (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Common+Secondary+Causes+of+Resistant+Hypertension+and+Rational+for+Treatment) for Pubmed
Accessibility
The ease of accessibility for both the health topics was similar across both the search engines. Moreover, the access to the specific health topic (journal access) was free across both the search engines.
Similarity and Dissimilarity of the Two Sources
The Google search produced pertinent and generalized results. On the contrary, the articles that were reflected on the first page of Pubmed were more specific and focused.
Reflection
An individual trying to access generalized information should fall back to the Google webpage. This is because the articles reflected in Google are more generalized. On the contrary, individuals trying to access research-based articles should find the results of Pubmed webpage more beneficial.
References
Faselis C, Doumas M, and Papademetriou V. (2011) Common secondary causes of resistant hypertension and rational for treatment, Int J Hypertens. 2, 236239
Hunt, D, Jaeschke, R, and McKibbon, A (2000). For the Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group. Users’ Guides to the Medical Literature: XXI. Using Electronic Health Information Resources in Evidence-Based Practice. JAMA 283(14), 1875-1879