Introduction
The Library of RUSH University Medical Center subscribes to the Cochrane Library. The Cochrane Library is a collection of databases that contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence. The most popular two are the systematic reviews and the trials. For more information about the Cochrane Library and it's databases, click here.
- The systematic reviews can be found under Cochrane Reviews. These reviews are all produced by the Cochrane Collaboration. This database is called the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR)
- Under Trials you will find all of the controlled trials that the database contains. These are not involved with the Cochrane Collaboration in any way (besides being included in this database). This database is called the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL).
Cochrane will allow you to search on a single terms, for example a drug name, and will return all information pertaining to that particular drug. For a more complex search or search using MeSH (Medical Subject Headings), you will need to go into Advanced Search. For a search involving two of more concepts (e.g. pressure sore in inpatients) it is always helpful to search on each concept individually, then combine the two concepts. This is an example of using Boolean logic. For a refresher on Boolean logic, click here.
