What is PubMed? PubMed is a bibliographic database created by the Nat l Library of Medicine and the Nat l Institutes of Health

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1 Searching PubMed

2 What is PubMed? PubMed is a bibliographic database created by the Nat l Library of Medicine and the Nat l Institutes of Health It contains citations to journal articles in the life sciences, concentrating on biomedical information PubMed contains all the citations in Medline, plus additional citations which are still in the process of being indexed For more information, go to the following web site:

3 Contents of this Tutorial This tutorial will show you how to run basic searches in the PubMed database. Specifically, the following searches will be demonstrated: Keyword Combining topics and sets together Limiting a search by: Human or animal studies Language Gender Age Publication type: Review article Systematic reviews Meta analyses Clinical trials Randomized controlled trials Practice guidelines Publication Date Field Tags Using the Advanced Search link Author Journal name -Subject heading (MeSH Headings) and sub-headings Obtaining the material you find in PubMed For more help with searching PubMed, go to this tutorial web site:

4 Accessing PubMed There are two ways to access PubMed 1) From the Halle Library s homepage You will need your my.emich username and password to access it from the Databases tab This is the better option for accessing PubMed, because you will be linked to the EMU FindText+ software which will help you locate the materials you find while searching 2) From the Nat l. Library of Medicine & the Nat l Institutes of Health web page. If you enter using the address below, the EMU FindText+ software will not be available to you. PubMed is a scholarly database made freely available directly from this U.S. government web site:

5 Accessing PubMed from the Halle Library Homepage Go to the Halle Library s web page at and click on the Databases tab.

6 Finding PubMed on the List of Databases Click on the letter P from the alphabetic list at the top of the page.

7 Finding PubMed on the List of Databases Select PubMed from the list of databases.

8 PubMed Main Screen Help link. This is the homepage of PubMed and also the place to run a keyword search. The Limits link allows you to limit the search to type of article, languages, gender, ages, species, dates, and many other search fields. The Advanced Search link allows you to see previous searches and access those results.

9 Searching with Keywords Click on the Search button. If you were interested in information on assessment in speech pathology, you would type the most important words, called keywords, into the search box. In this example, I typed in the word and which the computer understands as a command to intersect ideas together. The results contain some form of the word assessment and the phrase speech pathology. However, the PubMed search engine is so smart, it automatically knows to and the two ideas together, so I didn t really need to use it!

10 Combining Sets or Topics Together Combining the speech pathology assessment set and the dysphagia set. One way to save keyboarding time, is to type your main search in first, then intersect other sub-topics into that search. First, type in the main topic, in this case, speech pathology assessment. Clear the search box after you have run each search. Set numbers assigned to each topical search. Next, type in the sub-topics you wish to search along with the main subject. Key them in one at a time, so separate sets are created, clearing the search box after each search is run. In this case, dysphagia and agraphia are the sub-topics. Now, click on the Advanced Search link. You will see the three separate sets listed along with their assigned set numbers. Lastly, type the set numbers you wish to combine into the search box, making sure you place a pound (#) sign in front of each number. e.g. #3 and #4

11 Applying Limits Too many articles retrieved! Let s apply some limits to narrow down the search. Click on the Limits link located above the Search box. The screen will now look like this.

12 Language and Study Subject Limits You can limit to articles that focus on human or animal subjects. Because PubMed indexes articles written in more than 50 languages, it is important to remember to always limit your search to languages which you can read!

13 Gender and Age Limits You can limit to articles that discuss a specific gender. You can limit to articles that discuss a certain age group.

14 Publication Limits Systematic Reviews, Meta analysis, Practice Guidelines, Clinical Trials, RCTs, Review Articles Also under the Limits link, you will find a section called Type of Article. Here are a few of the types of publications that can be selected: meta analysis, practice guideline, clinical trial, RCT, review articles The check box for limiting a search to systematic reviews is located under the Subsets scroll menu.

15 Limiting by Date Highlight the date range from the drop-down menu.

16 Limiting by Field Tags Sometimes you want to find a word, name, or a piece of information only in a specific place or field in a citation, such as the article title, the investigator, or a substance name. PubMed allows you to do that by going under the Limits link, scrolling down to the bottom of the page under Search Field Tags, and highlighting the desired field to be searched. Next, type in the word, name, or a piece of information you wish to locate into the search box at the very top of the screen.

17 Using the Advanced Search Link The Advanced Search link is located on PubMed s main page, just above the search box. This link allows you to search by author, journal name, ISBN, chemical substance, etc. These same searches can be run by clicking on the Limits link, and using the drop-down menus under Search Field Tags.

18 Searching for an Author Step #1 - Click on the down arrow of the Search Builder box, and select Author. Step #2 - Now, click on the Add to Search Box button. Type in the last name and first initial of the author. From the list of possible authors that appears, select the one that is the most likely match for your author. Step #3 - The search is sent to the Search Box. Click on the blue Search button.

19 Searching by the Name of a Journal Step #1 - Click on the down arrow of the Search Builder box, and select Journal. Step #2 - Now, click on the Add to Search Box button. Type in the name of the journal. From the list of possible journal names that appears, select the one that is the most likely match for the one you are Interested in Step #3 - The search is sent to the Search Box. Click on the blue Search button.

20 What is a Subject Heading? Subject headings are words that are used to describe the content of journal articles & other material in PubMed and other scholarly databases or indexes Subject headings are also called controlled vocabulary, descriptors, headings, and index terms Subject headings are specific to each scholarly database A list of subject headings is loaded onto most scholarly databases; the list is sometimes called a thesaurus PubMed calls its thesaurus MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)

21 Why Use a Subject Heading When Keyword Searching Works Just Fine? A subject heading search helps when the keyword selected has many meanings. e.g. I need information on AIDS, the disease. Because a computer simply reads a string of letters, and not the meaning of the actual word, the search will often pick up results that are not relevant to the topic.

22 Why Use a Subject Heading When Keyword Searching Works Just Fine? For example, if a search is run using the word aids, the computer will pick up handicapped aids, visual aids, diabetes aids, etc. but you meant AIDS, the disease However, if a researcher looks up the word aids in MeSH, it will direct them to a number of choices with the word aids in them, one of them being the MeSH heading, acquired immunodeficiencey syndrome

23 Accessing the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) To access the MeSH Headings, click on the phrase MeSH Database located under the heading More Resources on PubMed s main page.

24 Searching with MeSH In the MeSH search box, type in the topic of your search. Keep it simple, a single word or phrase at a time, e.g. aids, heart attack

25 Searching with MeSH The PubMed and MeSH pages look alike, but The PubMed main page has the word PubMed and the blue open book in the upper left corner of the page. The MeSH database page has the word MeSH and a picture of a tree at the top of the page.

26 Searching with MeSH The MeSH search engine will map the word or phrase to a list of the most likely subject headings. Double click on the one that is the closest match to your topic. In this case, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is the closest term to the concept of the disease or condition, AIDS.

27 Searching with MeSH A definition of the subject heading is given. If there are specific aspects of the subject heading you want the article to contain, check the box in front of the appropriate sub-heading, e.g., drug therapy, immunology, psychology, etc.

28 Searching with MeSH Links The search must now be sent from the MeSH database, to the PubMed database. This is done by clicking on the word Links on the right side of the screen. It can be sent to PubMed or PubMed-Major Topic. The latter choice will result in less articles, but with greater focus on the topic.

29 Getting Your Hands on the Materials You ve Found Now that you know how to search the PubMed database, let s talk about how you get your hands on the materials you located. The easiest way to locate articles is to use the Find Text+ button located next to the citations in PubMed. You will only see this button if you logged into PubMed through the Halle Library s list of Databases.

30 Getting Your Hands on the Materials You ve Found Clicking on the Find Text+ button allows you to see if and how the Halle Library owns a journal or other materials. The button works using pop-ups, so make sure the pop-up blocker on your computer is turned off. (Pop-up blockers are usually found under the settings or tools of search browsers such as Internet Explorer or Firefox.) Related Citations are links to citations that are related to your topic. This is a great way to find additional material!

31 Find Text+ Button Follow this link to watch a video that shows how to use the Find Text+ button, including how to order materials the Halle Library does not own through ILLiad, the interlibrary loan system Follow this link to see a print explanation of how to use the Find Text+ button and ILLiad

32 Need More Help? Click on this link to point you to ways to ask a librarian for further help. EBucciarelli 6/10