HOME : SUPPORT : TRAINING : ONLINE COURSES
Welcome
Lesson 1: Choosing a Database
Lesson 2: Planning a Search Strategy
Lesson 3: Using Dialog Search Commands
Lesson 4: Managing Search Results
Lesson 5: Refining a Search (Part 1)
Lesson 6: Refining a Search (Part 2)
Lesson 7: Wrapping Up the Course

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Using the databases selection tool—DIALINDEX (continued)

When the list of databases in the the Medicine category displays, I see some old favorites like the New England Journal of Medicine and MEDLINE® and some less well-known ones like Global Health. Learn More

Tip 1-2

I want to search the entire category to see which databases have information on corals used in medical research. I also have the option of scanning just a couple of databases in the category.

Tip 1-3

Above the list of databases is the Databases command text box where I can enter my search strategy. For now, I will type a SELECT command followed by my search terms.

select coral and bone and substitute
 Tip 1-4

 

Databases List

Medicine Databases

Don't worry about how to write the strategy; I will go into more detail about creating search strategies in Lesson 2.

We'll just do the first half of Brian's request for now.

Now, I will click the search button to proceed.

Go to the next page.


1-5
Next page

Authoritative Answers Enriched by ProQuest

Learn More #5:

Knowing the content of databases is extremely important to get accurate search results. I often look at the database descriptions to get specific information about the database content. For example, if we want to search MEDLINE® and American Medical Association Journals, we can click the titles of the databases and review complete descriptions of each file.

I should probably review several databases here before deciding on my choice, especially if I want to see what the focus of a specific database is. This is especially important when the databases contain diverse information.

File Description

Produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), is one of the major sources for biomedical literature. MEDLINE corresponds to three print indexes: Index Medicus™, Index to Dental Literature and International Nursing Index. Additional materials not published in Index Medicus are included in the MEDLINE database in the areas of communication disorders, population and reproductive biology. MEDLINE is indexed using NLM's controlled vocabulary, MESH® (Medical Subject Headings). An online thesaurus is available to aid in locating MESH® descriptors. Abstracts, which are taken directly from the published articles, are included for over 59% of the records added from 1975 forward. Records added before 1975 do not contain abstracts; records added from 1985 to the present have abstracts for about 69% of the records. Approximately 400,000 records are added per year, of which more than 85% are in English.

Search Tip 1-4

Dialog is not case-sensitive; search commands and terms may be entered using upper- or lower-case letters.

For example:

SELECT coral AND bone and Substitute
select Coral and Bone and substitute

Search Tip 1-3

We can clear checkboxes by clicking the specific ones we do not want to include, or we can click the Clear Selections button to clear all checkmarks and choose fewer databases.

Search Tip 1-2

Requesting the database description opens a second copy of our Web browser. We can leave this open for reference during the search.

We simply click the original page on the desktop if it is visible, use ALT+TAB to switch between screens, or use the "boxes" on the bottom menu bar in Windows.