speechBITE is a free Australian online database of evidence-based practice material related to speech pathology. It is an initiative of the University of Sydney and Speech Pathology Australia.

This resource gives access to citations and (sometimes) abstracts of journal articles.

Pros and cons: advantages of using speechBITE

• The database covers only speech pathology-related material
• The database also covers only Evidence-Based Practice material, including Systematic Reviews (SRs) and Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs)
• It's a free resource, so you will have access to it even after graduating
• The provision of text boxes and drop-down menus, in Advanced Search, allows for flexibility in searching
• Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) and Non-Randomised Controlled Trials (NRCTs) in speechBITE are rated
• Search results are listed in a level-of-evidence hierarchy.

Pros and cons: disadvantages of using speechBITE

• It's a relatively small database
• There are only limited direct links to full-text, and there are no Find It - CSU links (so you can't link through to Charles Sturt subscribed materials)
• The search functionality is not as sophisticated as in larger health databases - e.g. there is no Search History.

SIMPLE SEARCH

speechBITE defaults to simple search. This is a keyword search: speechBITE will insert the AND operator between terms. If you wish to search for specific phrase, enclose it in double quotation marks. The truncation and wildcard symbol is the asterisk (*). You can place this before, within, or at the end of a string of letters.

ADVANCED SEARCH

In Advanced Search, you have the option of searching in 3 keyword text boxes:

• Keywords
• Author
• Source (journal or organisation).

speechBITE also has several drop-down menus which can be used in their own right, or in combination with a keyword search:

• Speech Pathology Practice Area
• Type of intervention
• Population
• Age group
• Type of service delivered
• Research Design.

There are also search fields for Year and Rating.

RESULTS

Your results will be presented as brief records. You can click on a title to view the article details. You can sort the results, add article records to your Selected Articles list, and print, email, save, and export (to EndNote) article records.

You shouldn't expect to get the full articles in your results. Some items - eg Cochrane Systematic Reviews - will have a link to the full-text, but usually you will need to search for the articles in Primo Search, to get the full-text.