Lesson 7: Wrapping up the Course
Congratulations! You have completed Introduction to Dialog Basics for the Life Sciences Professional.
We hope that you have enjoyed working through the course in your own time. Remember that the practice that you do will reinforce your learning in the course.
Here are a few tips to continue your Dialog education.
Review of the Commands and Techniques
In this course, you have learned how to use the databases selection tool, called DIALINDEX, to choose databases, the basic Dialog commands, how to identify key terms, and choose synonyms.
In addition, you have learned to truncate, use proximity connectors and logical operators.
Print this page (or download a PDF version 6 KB, 1 page) so that you have a list of the commands and techniques you learned all on one page:
Basic Commands
| Command | Example | When to Use It |
|---|---|---|
| BEGIN B | begin 155 b 155 b 155,72 current b medicine |
Use BEGIN
with a file number to specify the database(s) to be searched. Use CURRENT to restrict a search to the current year plus previous year in the database specified. |
| EXPAND E | au=folkstone e jn=sci am |
Use EXPAND to verify the spelling of terms and to view similar entries. |
| SELECT S | select antidepressant? s antidepressant? s anorexia? or bulimia? s s1 and s2 |
Use SELECT to create a set of records (e.g., s1) that contains the specified terms. |
| DISPLAY SETS DS | display sets ds |
Use DISPLAY SETS to display a list of all sets created since the last BEGIN command. |
| TYPE T | type s1/6/1-3 t s2/8/1 t s3/3/1,2 |
Use TYPE to display search results in a specified format. |
| LOGOFF | logoff | Use LOGOFF to end the search and disconnect from the Dialog system. |
Other Dialog Techniques
| Technique | Examples |
|---|---|
| Using truncation | s poison? |
| Using proximity connectors | s fiber?(n)optic? s marine(w)sponge? s shark?5n)cartilage? s bulimia(s)treat? s nose(L)abnormalities |
| Using logical operators | s bone? and implant? s physician? or doctor? |
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