How to Map the Literature of Pediatric Nursing

Mapping the literature of a particular topic is a good way to identify reliable and respected sources of information. By looking at the references that are used in the bibliographies of a large number of articles, resources that are used frequently are identified. These frequently used articles or chapters are considered reliable. A protocol to map literature in areas of health care was established by the Nursing and Allied Health Resources Section (NAHRS) of the Medical Library Association (MLA). The first area mapped was allied health (see Reference 1). In 1999, mapping of the nursing literature began (see Reference 2).

Collecting data

• 1

  Search for information about pediatric nursing. Understand the scope of the field and learn its history. Find this information in journal articles, encyclopedias and the websites of professional organizations. Other sources of information include government documents and human resources (see Reference 3).

• 2

  Pick out the source journals you will use. Consult specialty lists, major professional society journals, library catalogs, standard collection development tools and human experts in the field to identify titles. The study usually includes three years of a title (see Reference 3).

• 3

  Decide which articles from the chosen journals to use in the study. Your decision may be to include only research articles. A much broader approach would be to include letters to the editor and shorter items as well (see Reference 3).

• 4

  Collect the following data from each cited reference: source journal, source year, format and publication date of the cited reference. For journals, also include the title of the journal where the cited reference was published. Use these format categories: journals, books, government documents, Internet and miscellaneous (see Reference 3).

• 5

  Decide which method to use to create the database. Methods include database creation software, spreadsheets or web-based formats. Create a record for each cited reference in the database. Records can be entered manually or downloaded from a bibliographic database (see Reference 3).

Analyzing data

• 1

  Count the total number of citations from each source journal, as well as the total from all source journals. Manipulate the database to create Table 1, which counts the citations by format type. Then create Table 2, which counts the publication date by format type (see Reference 3).

• 2

  Manipulate the database to create Table 3, including the cited journal title, number of cited references from each journal and a total number of references. Sort the list so the most frequently cited journal appears at the top of the list. Calculate the total number of references. Divide the total number of references by three to identify the first, second and third zones of titles (see Reference 3).

• 3

  The journal titles appearing in zones 1 and 2 are significant in the subject area being studied. In Table 3, include the total number of titles in each zone and the total number of citations in each zone. Create Table 4 to identify where these journal titles are indexed. Determine how many years the title has been indexed by a bibliographic database and what types of articles are indexed by the database (see Reference 3).