PubMed Searching: Automatic Term Mapping (ATM) PubMed for Trainers, Fall 2015 U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) and NLM Training Center

Objectives By the end of this session, you should be able to: Describe how PubMed processes a search using Automatic Term Mapping (ATM) Use Search Details to determine how PubMed processed your search Modify your PubMed search based on what you learn from Search details 2 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

Composing Your Search Be specific Use no punctuation (e.g., no quotation marks) Use no operators (e.g., AND) Use no tags Capitalization is unimportant 3 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

4 PubMed for Trainers

ATM in Action 5

ATM (continued) PubMed looks for: Subjects Journals Authors In that order. 6 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

MeSH (Subject) Translation Table Contains: MeSH Headings Subheadings Publication Types Entry Term mappings (also known as synonyms) for MeSH terms Supplementary Concepts and synonyms to the Supplementary Concepts Mappings derived from the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) 7 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

When a Match is Found for your Subject 8 PubMed for Trainers Processing now stops! Revised 2015/09

Automatic Explosion: What you Don’t See in Search Details 9 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

10 PubMed for Trainers

Pop Quiz! PubMed for Trainers 11 Revised 2015/09

ATM (cont’d) If PubMed doesn’t find a match in the MeSH subject table, it looks for: Subjects Journals Authors 12 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

Journals Translation Table Full journal title MEDLINE abbreviation International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) 13 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

When a Match is Found for your Journal Title 14 PubMed for Trainers Processing now stops! Revised 2015/09

Pop Quiz! PubMed for Trainers 15 Revised 2015/09

ATM (cont’d) If PubMed doesn’t find a match in the journals table, it looks for: Subjects Journals Authors 16 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

Author Translation Tables Author Index In the format: Lastname Initials: Jennings BH Full Author Translation Table Author names in natural and inverted order: Barbara H Jennings Jennings, Barbara H Investigator Index Full Investigator Translation Table 17 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

When a Match is Found for an Author Name 18 PubMed for Trainers Processing now stops! Revised 2015/09

Pop Quiz! PubMed for Trainers 19 Revised 2015/09

ATM: Searching Multiple Concepts 20 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

Combining Subjects, Journals & Authors: What does ATM Do? 21 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

PubMed for Trainers 22 Revised 2015/09

No match in any of the translation tables? 23 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

Phrase Searching with Quotes Caution! Using quotes bypasses ATM & automatic explosion. 24 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

PubMed for Trainers 25 Quoted Phrase Not Found Revised 2015/09

Exercise Search the following in PubMed: a. “health planning” b. health planning What is missed in the first search? 26 PubMed for Trainers Revised 2015/09

Searches that Bypass Automatic Term Mapping: 1. Using a search tag: Gene [author] Science [journal] 2. Forcing a phrase search with quotes: “pressure point” 3. Truncation: surgical sponge* 4. Using the Single Citation Matcher 5. Using Advanced Search 27 PubMed for Trainers Use with caution! Revised 2015/09

Summary PubMed for Trainers 28 For most PubMed searches just enter your terms and click Search. Always check Search details Automatic Term Mapping processes subjects, journals and authors, in that order. Revised 2015/09

Summary PubMed for Trainers 29 With ATM, your MeSH terms will automatically explode to include narrower topics. The 3 ways to enter journal titles are: 1. Full journal title 2. MEDLINE journal title abbreviation 3. ISSN For the most comprehensive author search, use the format lastname initials (e.g., smith ja). If necessary, bypass ATM by using: Quotations or tags Single Citation Matcher Advanced Search (to be discussed later) Revised 2015/09

You should now be able to: PubMed for Trainers 30 Describe how PubMed processes a search using Automatic Term Mapping Use Search Details to determine how PubMed processed your search Modify your PubMed Search depending on what you learn from Search Details Revised 2015/09