Mess ‘o MeSH …Or, What are all those funny terms anyway? MU Cataloging Workshop 24 April 2008 Amanda Sprochi

So what the heck is MeSH? Medical Subject Headings Specialized vocabulary for medical subjects Maintained by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Used in MedLine, the online index of medical articles Used in medical cataloging for NLM and most dedicated medical libraries

Why should I care? Probably you shouldn’t (unless you’re a medical cataloger) except You will see these in MERLIN Government documents in particular have really, really, REALLY bad MeSH It’s good to be able to recognize them and know how they differ from LCSH It’ll make my job easier (and hopefully yours!)

LCSH vs. MeSH—smackdown! LCSH –Not hierarchical –Very flexible –Free-floating subheadings –280,000 headings and references –Covers multiple disciplines, including medicine (R schedule) MeSH –Hierarchical –Not flexible –Subheadings not free- floating –122,000 headings and cross-references –Covers “biomedical and health-related topics” (medicine, veterinary medicine, nursing, and allied health topics)

LCSH vs. MeSH—the sequel LCSH –Format of entries Sentence case Geographic subdivision dependent on term Multiple subheadings allowed Complicated syntax allowing for great flexibility MARC format field 650 _0 (1 st indicator generally not used) MeSH –Format of entries Main heading title case, subheading lowercase ($v uses title or lowercase) Geographic subheading always allowed/use not prescribed Only one subheading per main term MARC field 650 X2 (1 st indicators generally used although not mandatory)

An example: You have in hand a book entitled “Communication with the cancer patient : information and truth” In LSCH: 650 _0 Cancer |x Psychological aspects |v Congresses. 650 _0 Physician and patient |v Congresses. In MeSH: Neoplasms |x psychology |v Congresses Physician-Patient Relations |v Congresses.

LCSH and MeSH vocabularies are not the same! Let me repeat: LCSH and MeSH vocabularies are not the same! You MUST look up terms in both LCSH and MeSH if you are going to use them both The exception: MeSH uses the NLM name authority files, which use the LC NAF (with some locally established names)

MeSH Browser (your tax dollars at work) Free! Free! Free! Available via the NLM MeSH website at Maintained by NLM New MeSH schedule yearly

MeSH heading = Authorized heading (150) See Also = See Also (550) Tree Number = Place in hierarchyAllowable Qualifiers = Allowed Subheadings Annotation = Usage notesOnline Note = Searching notes Scope Note = Scope NoteHistory note = History of term use in MeSH Entry Term = See from references (450)Unique ID = Unique MeSH number

Special MeSH stuff to know MeSH uses the 1 st indicator of the 650 to indicate Main (1) vs. Secondary (2) topics Contents of item usually determine whether something is main or secondary Some terms can only be secondary, never main –Indicated in the MeSH record as “NIM” –Geographic terms, age categories, etc. are generally “NIM” –Things marked “check tag” are also NIM (secondary only); cannot be used if there is a annotation saying “CATALOG: do not use”

Descriptors and Qualifiers, oh my A descriptor is a subject heading A qualifier is a sub-heading Some terms are both (immunology, psychology, etc.) When searching, if a term is used as both you must pick the one you want (generally the descriptor)

More Qualifiers A qualifier can only be used with a MeSH heading if it is specifically listed for use with that heading What qualifiers can be used with which headings are determined by the MeSH hierarchy and its tree The history note in the qualifier MeSH record will list what trees that qualifier is valid for

A Forest of Trees Remember, MeSH is truly hierarchical Terms lower on the tree are narrower in scope than higher-level terms MeSH has 16 trees covering all areas of biomedical science, plus general terms added as necessary If no MeSH term exists, it is necessary to use the next higher term on the hierarchy

Other neato stuff MeSH can do Got a weird chemical name? Look it up in MeSH!

Unknown critter? Use MeSH to find family, Genus, species

Wrap up! MeSH: hierarchical medical subject headings maintained by NLM Available through a free online browser Contains biomedical terms, general subject headings, geographic terms and chemicals and organisms Tutorials for MeSH indexing available online through NLM MeSH works with LCSH but they are not the same!

Helpful tools: MeSH Browser: html html NLM Locator (NLM catalog) bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First PubMed (free public medical index maintained by NLM) Medline (professional medical index maintained by NLM) Go through link on HSL homepagelink MeSH Indexing Tutorial ml ml

Questions? Contact me any time!