Q. What are the different types of literature search requests and what can I expect in terms of timelines?

Urgent patient care searches

What is an urgent patient care search?  A literature search that is urgently needed to provide information for direct patient care

What can I expect? An urgent patient care search is completed within the same business day.
 

Non-urgent patient care searches

What is a non-urgent patient care search?  A literature search that is directly related to patient care but is not needed within the same business day. The information gained from these searches is used to directly influence patient care by impacting assessment, diagnosis, treatment, or management.

What can I expect? After the initial contact, a standard search is normally completed within 5 business days. Different timelines may be negotiated depending up on the complexity and scope of the search.
 

Indirect patient care searches

What is an indirect patient care search? A literature search that is not directly or immediately related to patient care. The information gained from these searches is used to inform practice guidelines, policy development, administrative decisions, or ongoing research.

What can I expect? After the initial contact, a non-patient care search is normally completed within 10 business days.  Non-patient care searches require a longer timeline due to their complexity and the need to search a greater variety of resources including AHS policies and procedures, grey literature, and published literature.

Complex searches

What are complex searches? Complex searches include, but are not limited to: systematic reviews, Strategic Clinical Network questions, and other large scale projects. 

What can I expect? Complex searches often take longer than 10 business days to complete due to the scope and breadth of the project or topic.  As such, these large-scale requests are handled on a case-by-case basis, and are assigned to a KRS searcher according to availability/capacity.  After the search request is received and identified as complex, the KRS team member responsible for conducting the search will contact you to negotiate timelines and other details. KRS librarians will not search any databases we do not license; it is the responsibility of the requestor to complete literature searches in non AHS licensed databases.