Find Terms Used Most Frequently to Search a Specific Topic?

TOPIC: Referring to online or print thesauri is a good way to become familiar with the terminology used in an area of research. In this example, we'll illustrate a useful technique for determining which descriptors are used most frequently to describe the topic you are researching.

In the following example, we have selected the acronym rgb—not knowing if it's a proper descriptor or not. We want to find out what particular terms appear most frequently when searching for medical imaging and rgb. Using the RANK command, we can analyze the set to see how frequently the term appears in the Descriptor (DE) field. We'll use three databases—NTIS: National Technical Information Service (File 6), Ei Compendex® (File 8) and Inspec® (File 4), which cover all aspects of engineering.

COMMAND SUMMARY

BEGIN 6,8,4
SELECT MEDICAL()IMAG? AND RGB/TI,DE,ID
RD
In the Set Links pane click S2 > TASKS > RANK
Check Descriptors from displayed screen and click OK
Check the appropriate number in the Select column, select a format and number of records and click the View button.

HOW TO...

1. BEGIN in the "Big Three" databases which cover all aspects of engineering. 2. SELECT keyword(s) and the acronym restricted to titles (/TI), descriptors (/DE), and identifiers (/ID). 3. Use the REMOVE DUPLICATES (RD) command to avoid paying twice for the same record. 4. In the Set Links pane, click Set 2 (S2) > Tasks > Rank.
5. Choose a Rank field from the alphabetical list of fields that can be RANKed. In this example, we will check Descriptor (DE). Then click OK.
6. A list of items displays ranked from most to least often mentioned in the records. To view records, check the term(s) you want to view, select a format and number of items and click the View button.

RELATED HOW DO I...? SOLUTIONS

• Find technical information on a specific topic?
• Find a particular author and what she/he has written?
• Find conferences dealing with a specific subject?
• Find databases that have specific journals and who is publishing most in that journal?
• Find an expert in a specific area of research?

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Stock #: 53718; Last modified: 14 Sep 2011

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