Finding the Evidence

Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Finding the Evidence Workshop (CASPfew) -  CASPfew is essentially a searching skills workshop which aims to help participants improve their ability to find evidence systematically.

 Objectives of a CASPfew:

• to be able to formulate an answerable questionto know what different sorts of questions people have about health and healthcare
• to be aware of the range and quality of available sources of evidence
  
• to be aware of how searching techniques and search strategies may affect outcome and to be aware of the problems associated with searching different sources  
• know what different types of study designs are required for different sorts of question adn be aware of the best sources of evidence to search for the most appropriate type of study to answer your question
• to share and learn from the experience of other participants  

Examples of teaching resources can be found on the resources page.

Although librarians are mainly involved in the 'Finding' stage of evidence based medicine, many information specialists  get involved in the 'Appraisal' part of CASPin.

• Librarians increasingly attend CASP workshops, where they learn how to appraise different types of research papers quickly and easily, using checklists.
• You could also participate as a facilitator at a future CASP workshop.
  

Gaining skills in research and critical appraisal is vital to help us appreciate the importance of finding and using good quality evidence, and to enable us to raise the profile of librarianship as a whole.