This article provided an overview of the strategies, tools, and techniques for searching the literature. Also discussed was how to retrieve, manage, and report relevant information that has been found. There are many books and computer tutorials about each of these topics available in libraries and bookstores. It may be worth-while to investigate the availability of courses in your workplace and community for fine-tuning your search skills. A hands-on opportunity to search relevant databases under the guidance of a librarian or experienced researcher would be worth the investment. One key message is to be organized when approaching the literature. Careful planning and organization can help ensure that your research trip is a productive one.

This study consists of an analysis of the information literacy (IL) needs and levels of 44 social work graduate students at a mid-sized Canadian university using the Technology Acceptance Model.  Students completed a quantitative questionnaire that included supplementary open-ended questions.  Results showed that students who received a library tour and/or in-class library instruction were more knowledgeable and confident about library resources and services. The study clearly demonstrates that information literacy sessions should be essential components of graduate education. A comprehensive literature review of information literacy studies focusing on social work students is also provided, along with the current graduate social work modified Beile Test of Information Literacy for Education (B-TILED) assessment tool (Beile O’Neil, 2005).  The authors recommend that information literacy surveys in Canada include the relevant required elements for the Institutional Quality Assurance Process (IQAP) and program learning outcomes.  Given the lack of a Canadian national document for information literacy standards, such surveys should also reflect the components of ACRL’s new Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.  This study can serve as a model for replication at other universities, particularly those that are part of the Ontario Council of University Libraries and that have graduate social work programs.

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This study tested the hypothesis that socioeconomically vulnerable Canadians with diverse acute conditions or chronic diseases have health care access and survival advantages over their counterparts in the USA. A rapid systematic review retrieved 25 studies (34 independent cohorts) published between 2003 and 2018. They were synthesized with a streamlined meta-analysis. Very low-income Canadian patients were consistently and highly advantaged in terms of health care access and survival compared with their counterparts in the USA who lived in poverty and/or were uninsured or underinsured. In aggregate and controlling for specific conditions or diseases and typically 4 to 9 comorbid factors or biomarkers, Canadians’ chances of receiving better health care were estimated to be 36% greater than their American counterparts (RR=1.36, 95% CI 1.35-1.37). This estimate was significantly larger than that based on general patient or non-vulnerable population comparisons (RR=1.09, 95% CI 1.08-1.10). Contrary to prevalent political rhetoric, three studies observed that Americans experience more than twice the risk of long waits for breast or colon cancer care or of dying while they wait for an organ transplant (RR=2.36, 95% CI 2.09-2.66). These findings were replicated across externally valid national studies and more internally valid, metropolitan or provincial/state comparisons. Socioeconomically vulnerable Canadians are consistently and highly advantaged on health care access and outcomes compared to their American counterparts. Less vulnerable comparisons found more modest Canadian advantages. The Affordable Care Act ought to be fully supported including the expansion of Medicaid across all states. Canada’s single payer system ought to be maintained and strengthened, but not through privatization.