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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
RANK DE
VIEW #/3/1
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. |
?6,8,4
SYSTEM:OS - DIALOG OneSearch
File 6:NTIS 1964-2008/Jun W2
(c) 2008 NTIS, Intl Cpyrght All Rights Res
File 8:Ei Compendex(R) 1884-2008/May W3
(c) 2008 Elsevier Eng. Info. Inc.
File 4:INSPEC 1983-2008/May W1
(c) 2008 Institution of Electrical Engineers
Set Items Description
--- ----- -----------
?s medical()imag? and rgb/ti,de,id
308800 MEDICAL
1141984 IMAG?
82079 MEDICAL(W)IMAG?
2886 RGB/TI,DE,ID
S1 110 MEDICAL()IMAG? AND RGB/TI,DE,ID
?rd
S2 108 RD (unique items) |
4. RANK by descriptor to retrieve a listing of keywords indexed in the descriptor field of the record.
They are ranked from most to least often mentioned in the records.
You can VIEW records from within the RANK menu (e.g., view rank#/format/record(s)). |
?rank de
Started processing RANK
Processing 100 of 108 records
Completed Ranking 108 records
DIALOG RANK Results
--------------------
RANK: S2/1-108 Field: /DE File(s): 6,8,4
(Rank fields found in 108 records -- 278 unique terms)
Page 1 of 35
RANK No. Items Term
-------- ----- ----
1 89 MEDICAL IMAGE PROCESSING
2 62 IMAGE COLOUR ANALYSIS
3 45 IMAGE SEGMENTATION
4 23 SKIN
5 19 BIOMEDICAL OPTICAL IMAGING
6 19 FEATURE EXTRACTION
7 18 IMAGE CLASSIFICATION
8 17 CANCER
P = next page Pn = Jump to page n
P- = previous page M = More Options Exit = Leave RANK
To view records from RANK, enter VIEW followed by RANK number,
format, and item(s) to display, e.g., VIEW 2/9/ALL.
Enter desired option(s) or enter RANK number(s) to save terms. |
RELATED HOW DO I...? SOLUTIONS
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