2.3.2 Manual Searches A Manual Search Will Be Performed To Ensure That All

2.3.2 MANUAL SEARCHES
A manual search will be performed to ensure that all relevant literature is accessed. The manual searches will include:-
Books relevant to the topics from university libraries and web sites
Inverse searching- by locating index terms of relevant journal articles and texts
Systematically searching reference lists and bibliographies of relevant journal articles and texts
2.3.3 THE INTERNET
The internet will provide a global perspective of the research topic and a searchable database of Internet files collected by a computer.
Sites accessed will include:-
Department of Health
National Pathways Association
Specialist ICP conference organisers
Publishers of Medical Text
Google
British Medical Journal
2.3.4 OTHER PROFESSIONALS IN THE AREA
Additionally, online discussion groups will be used as a method of contacting other investigators and specialists working in the field who may have unpublished work that has recently been completed (Sindhu & Dickson 1997).
This source of data has the potential to provide further anecdotal evidence and guidelines to resources which may not be highlighted within the other aspects of the methodology. As this is a relatively new research topic, it is likely that there is research which has been conducted but is yet to be published. Therefore, efforts will be taken to ensure that such data is included within the analysis.

In an area that has no clearly defined literature, the contribution of specialists is often essential (McManus et al.1998) other professionals will be contacted using:-
Online discussion groups
Local ICP support group
Researchers and authors identified during literature review
2.4 IDENTIFICATION OF KEY WORDS
Databases use a controlled vocabulary of key words, in each citation. To assist direct retrieval of citations techniques Boolean logic will be applied using subject indexing, field searching and truncation to narrow the topic focus (Loy 2000, Hicks 1996, Goodman 1993). For this purpose Khan and colleagues (2001) propose that key words be based on the components of the review question.
An imaginative and resourceful technique of searching electronic databases will be used including recognising the inherent faults in the indexing of articles. Misclassification and misspelling will be included in the searches with searches utilising keywords and the subheadings, (Clarke, Greaves & James 1997, Greenhalgh 1997, Hicks 1996, Ray & Vermeulen 1996). A search strategy requires the ability to identify relevant articles and exclude irrelevant articles (Box 2) ( Khan et al 2001). Several permutations of terms will be used in order to identify the most relevant articles.
Box 2. Comparison of literature Searching Terms
(Adapted from NHS CRD Report No 4 Khan et al.