Effective Multidisciplinary Search Strategies for Assistance Animals: A Librarian's Perspective.

Erik Davis Fausak

doi:10.3389/fvets.2019.00063

Abstract

Successful search strategies are based on good background knowledge and a focused clinical research question. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of research involving assistance animals means there is no one universal database to answer all research questions. The topic of assistance animals can yield better results when creating subheadings based on discipline focus. Subheadings have been divided into ethicolegal, sociocultural, psychobehavioral, and medical/veterinary. Each subheading, or discipline, has their own specific databases that will yield higher relevant content than others. Contacting local academic librarians and utilizing search guides created by those librarians can lead to successful search strategies. The goal of this article is to create a template for successful search strategies in assistance animals. Eighty-nine subject guides curated by academic librarians are reviewed to identify strong databases for each topic of ethicolegal, sociocultural, pscyhobehavioral, and medical/veterinary topics in relationship to assistance animals. A live subject guide has been created and maintained at https://www.library.ucdavis.edu/guide/assistance-animals/

Highlights

Assistance dogs touch on all levels of academic thinking that cannot be researched with one database or search strategy
A subject guide dedicated to ethicolegal, sociocultural, psychobehavioral, and medical aspects of assistance animals will be curated and maintained at https://www.library.ucdavis. edu/guide/assistance-animals/ Twenty to thirty subject guides pertaining to the following subheadings were consulted: ethicolegal, sociocultural, psychobehavioral, and medical aspects
The step is whether a focused foreground question has been formed, or more background information needs to be retrieved

Summary

Introduction

Assistance dogs touch on all levels of academic thinking that cannot be researched with one database or search strategy. Four major subheadings (or broader disciplines) have been identified in relationship to assistance animals: ethicolegal, sociocultural, psychobehavioral, and medical/veterinary. All of these disciplines may overlap to some degree, but this broader grouping of disciplines as subheadings can help the researcher identify ideal databases based on the penchant of their research. The goal of this paper is not to create a strict bibliography but to identify key search strategies and tools to find relevant information regarding any level of research around Assistance Animals. Whenever possible, utilizing specialized academic libraries and librarians will prove to be extremely beneficial

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion