Pro Tip: Punctuation
Do not use any punctuation in your search terms. The iPortal works on an older software platform and punctuation affects the functionality of its searching mechanism.
Pro Tip: OA Tick box
If you are looking for resources you can share and use openly without have to check the Fair Dealing guidelines, tick the "Limit to open access" box and limit your search to those resources available without subscriptions.
Pro Tip: Combing Fields Using And/Or
The final field on the Advanced Search page in the iPortal is labeled Combine Fields Using and is completed using a drop-down menu that has the options "And" & "Or."
The default setting is "And." This tells the iPortal that the user is looking for results that have a combination of the factors listed in the other fields. If "Or" is selected then the iPortal search engine will return results that meet any of the criteria describe in the fields above.
Pro Tip: Mind Your Language
As we move through the decolonization process we see iterative change in the language used to describe Indigenous peoples, cultures and communities. When using the iPortal, these language changes can have a dramatic effect on the results returned by the portal's search engine.
As seen above, a search for the word "Cree" returns 1478 results while a search for "Nehiyawak" returns 7 (below).
Learning the way that the word choices you make affects the number of results your search returns, and the different biases that may be contained in those resources, is an important part of using the iPortal.
Pro Tip: Scroll Down
Below the turtle there is an RSS feed of Indigenous Blogs and Podcasts. While we can't possibly index every podcast or blog, but this feed contains a sampling of works that relates to current events and contemporary cultures.
Welcome to the iPortal
The iPortal (Indigenous Studies Portal) is a library database containing an index of full-text resources pertaining to Indigenous peoples, cultures and communities. It can be found at http://iportal.usask.ca, and is an excellent tool for accessing information on a variety of topics, including health.
There are a number of different ways to search and/or browse for resources in the iPortal. The following sections of this page will offer some guidance in searching for health-related information. More general search information can be found on the iPortal's tutorial page.
Keyword Searching
At the top of the homepage is a search box that allows iPortal users to search by keyword. A second box contains a dropdown menu which functions to limit a search by resource type.
Advanced Search
The advanced search button, found on the right side of the screen just below the navigation bar, allows the user to access a series of different search fields that can be combined to create a more targeted search.
So. Let's say, for example, that one wanted to know what BC First Nations Health Authority Chief Medical Officer Dr. Evan Adams had to say about COVID-19. One would type "Evan Adams" into the Author field and "COVID" into the Description field (or possibly the Title field, but either returns the same results in this case). Then one would select "And" from the drop-down menu in the Combine Fields With field to obtain a list of result that list Evan Adams as an author and have the word "COVID" in the description.
Browse By Category
Finally, one can search/browse for resources in the iPortal using the different knowledge categories that appear on the shell of the turtle graphic on the iPortal's home page:
Clicking on one of the labeled sections in the turtle's shells will bring up a list of subcategories that will help to further narrow one's search.
Once a subcategory has been selected the iPortal will return a list of results for that selection. Above the list of results an iPortal user will find a couple more options to help refine their search. The first of these are sub-subcategories. Depending on the category in question, there maybe additional categorical divisions listed at the top of the page; selecting one of these categories will further refine the results list.
The second option that users of the iPortal have at this point is related to resource type. The series of tabs immediately about the results list break the results into different formats. The iPortal always shows Scholarly Articles as a default, but there are almost always a variety of different resource available on a subject.
Using the Maps Function
The iPortal also has a page which shows the First Nations in Western Canada on a map. This can be accessed from the homepage by clicking on the Maps tap in the site's navigational menu.
Once on the Maps page an iPortal user can select one of the Western provinces and territories to see a list of and markers for the First Nations within that space. The province of Saskatchewan is the default.
The user can use the zoom buttons on the map to select a location, or the menu to the right of the map to select a specific First Nation.
By clicking on an individual map marker, an iPortal user will be able to see a list of the articles indexed in the Portal that have be tagged as pertaining to that nation.