Link Descriptor Terms with Subheadings?

TOPIC: Descriptors are subject terms assigned by indexers to describe the scope of an article and are found in the Descriptor (DE) field of online records. Descriptors in MEDLINE® (File 154), called MeSH®, may also be subdivided by means of topical subheadings. Subheadings are used to restrict retrieval to precisely the aspect of the topic desired, such as Cluster Headache—Etiology--ET. They may be used only with allowable categories of MeSH descriptors.

Subheadings included in the Descriptor field are searchable as individual terms or as bound phrases. Use the (L) operator to link the main heading and subheading combination desired. Subheadings can be searched by full name or two-letter abbreviations, for example, SURGERY or SU. EXPANDing in the Basic Index helps to identify descriptors and associated subheadings to facilitate retrieval.

The subheadings in EMBASE® (File72) follow the same functionality as MeSH in MEDLINE. Use the EXPAND command to verify indexing and the two-letter link codes. For example, the subheading PO means poisoning in MeSH, while in EMTREE PO stands for oral drug administration.

In this example, you will search MEDLINE to find some of the therapies used to treat osteoarthritis of the hip.

COMMAND SUMMARY

BEGIN 154
VISUAL EXPAND OSTEOARTHRITIS, HIP
Check boxes for desired records and click Select
TYPE S2/8/1-5
Click Link > Display > Type Full Record

HOW TO...

1. BEGIN File 154 to search MEDLINE.   2. Visual Expand the descriptor term. Note: MeSH descriptors are both phrase and word indexed. In this case we EXPANDed the descriptor phrase, with punctuation included.   3. Check the boxes for the terms you want and click SELECT.
Note: Alternatively you can LINK known subheadings to the descriptor using the Link (L) operator. You can link either the subheading term spelled out or use the two-letter abbreviation.
Using Visual Expand or the (L) connector provide the same number of records.
4. TYPE a few records in Format 8 to see title, descriptors and publication years. 5. To select the appropriate record number, click Links > Display > Type Full Record from the drop-down box of the record if you want the complete record.
Note: A portion of the record has been omitted from this display.

RELATED HOW DO I...? SOLUTIONS

• Explode a MeSH or EMTREE term to include narrower terms?
• Find conference papers?
• Find a conference location?
• Find cited references on a biomedical subject?
• Use the MeSH online thesaurus in MEDLINE?

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Stock #: 53402; Last modified: 14 Sep 2011

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