MEDLINE ON OVID

What you need to start On campus: – Library registration (at library counter) – Network registration (at library counter) – Medline OVID passwords (from information specialists) – Ask for training sessions if you still feel uncomfortable searching Medline Off campus: – Library registration & OVID Medline passwords

Background A biomedical database Covering years since 1966 Indexing journals only ± 4000 journals indexed International coverage

Type in passwords for access Get passwords from library

General OVID information. Click on continue.

Choose a database

Medline can be searched in different time periods Latest 5 years most popular

For starters! – Specify your topic – Break up your topic in its different parts if more than one – Start searching the parts or terms one by one – After searching the different terms, you will combine them logically

Type in the first part of your topic

MESH Medical Subject Headings An alphabetical list of medical terms MESH makes efficient searching easy for everyone

Advantages of MESH – Automatic cross-referencing from non-MESH to MESH terms – Cover British/American spelling – Include singular/plural terms – Include synonyms – MESH terms link to subheadings – MESH terms will take you step-by-step through database searching on OVID

Your typed-in subject term will be “mapped” to a MESH term

EXPLODE – MESH terms are organised into tree structures – The TREE structure arranges MESH terms into broader and narrower terms – Medline has an EXPLODE function which enable you to use a broader term while simultaneously include all its narrower terms – Enable the EXPLODE function by clicking on the EXPLODE block at the right side of your MESH term

Click in this box to explode

FOCUS – Medline has the powerful function of focusing – Focusing means to throw out less important articles – You can restrict your MESH term to the most important articles on that topic by clicking in the FOCUS block at the far right side of your MESH term

Click in this box to focus

The information icon shows a scope note of the MESH term

Subheadings – Subheadings enable searching on specific aspects of your topic eg diagnosis, etiology, economics or epidemiology – You can mark more than one subheading simultaneously – Using subheadings = potent searching!

Choose one or more subheadings or none if so preferred

REMEMBER MANAGEMENT OF A DISEASE: There are different subheading options to cover the management of a disease. You can choose one or more subheadings such as surgery, diet therapy, drug therapy, radiotherapy or even rehabilitation.

Type in the next part of your topic

Each new term will take you through the searching process again

BOOELIAN LOGIC AND / OR / NOT OR HEART DISEASES HYPERTENSION

BOOELIAN LOGIC AND HEART DISEASES HYPER TENSION AND

BOOELIAN LOGIC NOT HEART DISEASES Not CONGENITAL HEART DISEASES

Combine the two terms to articles containing both

LIMIT function – Medline covers veterinary sciences, all languages, different publication types, all ages and the time period since – The powerful LIMIT function enables you to limit your search to all of the above categories and more. You can limit eg to only human and English references. – Limit to REVIEW articles – The LIMIT functions can be used by directly marking the LIMIT blocks under the command bar or use the expanded function on the top of the screen (dart board icon)

Click on LIMIT icon

Limit your search Clicl another box to limit other than last set

Press Ctrl button to choose more than one

References will be displayed in bibliographic format under the search strategy

Mark your preferences for display and output format

About 65% of the Medline database references provide abstracts

UP subscribes to ± 70 full text journals on OVID. Click on Ovid full text to see article

Full text article appears on screen in OVID format. Saving or ing an article in this format, will loose the graphics and tables.

Choose.pdf format if available. If not, click on print preview to change the graphics to a readable and printable format.

Medline HELP – On the Medical Library homepage: You will find a link: 10 Ways to improve your Medline search

FEEL WELCOME TO ASK FOR HELP Created by Myleen Oosthuizen June 2003