Coronavirus Powersearching

Learn the best online search methods to help you find medical information quickly and accurately. These techniques are shown by searching for information about Coronavirus / COVID19, but are widely applicable to searching for medical information on nearly any topic.

Coronavirus Powersearching (CPSWG) Syllabus

1. Introduction—Why learning medical powersearching skills is important

- finding basic information about Coronavirus
- principles of medical powersearching
- making a good query
- how to read the search results page
- finding symptoms
- COVID-19 self assessment
- finding testing locations nearby

2. Searching for Coronavirus risk factors

- who is at risk of serious illness?
- framing your query is simplest possible language
- determine the source of your information
- when is an image search useful?
- find out when the information was published (and how)
- medical information changes over time

3. Discovering how Coronavirus is spread

- finding the best masks to wear
- comparing information about masks from different sources
- using a simple spreadsheet to compare data
- how to filter search results by time (last hour, past week, past month…)

4. How much Coronavirus is in my community?

- how to search your county health department for data
- reading the data provided in the search results
- how to notice the details about the data (city? county? state?)
- comparing Michigan data with California data (and to YOUR location)
- searching for tools to compare data across the country

5. Finding strategies for living in a world with Coronavirus

- how to find your local recommendations and guidelines for health
- search pattern for your location
- how to search for how busy a business is; how to find less-crowded times