basic searching on ovid databases on the nhs scotland elibrary elib.scot.nhs.uk
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Basic searching on Ovid databases on the NHS Scotland eLibrary www.elib.scot.nhs.uk. Maria Henderson Library NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Partnerships September 2006. NHS Scotland eLibrary. Available on any PC with an internet connection - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Basic searching on Ovid databases on the NHS Scotland eLibrary
www.elib.scot.nhs.uk
Maria Henderson Library
NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Partnerships
September 2006
NHS Scotland eLibrary
• Available on any PC with an internet connection
• Databases can be accessed with your NHS Athens password
• This demonstration uses the Medline database. Other databases available via Ovid have the same layout and similar commands.
Login here with your Athens password for seamless access to resources and any favourite links.
Click on “Databases – full list” to select fromthe list of databases
available
To access Medline and other databases from Ovid, click on “Ovid collection”
Scroll down the list of Oviddatabases and click on
“Medline”. Remember to choosea year range to suit you
(eg. 1996-2006)
Type search term in here
Searches can be limited, eg. byyear of publication
Search strategy
• This example shows a search for information on special education for people with mental handicap
• It helps to divide your search into sections – in this case, “mental handicap” and “special education”. Do each search separately then combine the results later, as in the following example.
Type your first term in the search box and click on “Search”
Select the subject heading which matches what you typed in by ticking
the box in the left-hand margin. Subject headings will use
US spelling and terminology.
“Explode” looks for the selectedsubject heading and all of its morespecific terms. “Focus” looks for
articles where your subjectheading is the main subject covered.
For a definition of the term, click on the scope note next to it
Scope note will give a definitionand related terms which you could
add to your search
Click on “Previous page” to return to the previous screen
Click on the heading to look at the subject tree, which shows broader
and more specific subject headingsfor searching
Subject trees show subject headings in a “tree” formation. Scroll
down to find “Mental retardation”.
Your subject heading(highlighted)
Narrower headings, which would be included in
your search if you tick“explode”.
Tick here to “explode”the search
Scroll back to the top of the pageand click on “Continue”
Subheadings allow you to focus onan aspect of your topic, eg. drug
therapy or nursing. Use them onlyif that is exactly what you want.Otherwise ignore and click on
“continue”.
Results appear in the “SearchHistory” box
Type your second search term intothe search box and click on “Search”.
Again, you can click on the heading to seethe related subject headings.
Click in the “Explode” box to select your subject and the narrower
headings below it. Then click on “Continue”.
Subheadings allow you to focus onan aspect of your topic, eg. drug
therapy or nursing. Only use themif that is exactly what you want.Otherwise ignore and click on
“continue”.
Results appear in the Search History box.You now have two separate sets of results
which need to be combined.
Combine search results by typing inthe numbers of the searches
eg. “1 and 2”, and clicking on “Search”.
Results (articles on mental retardationand special education).
You can apply limits – eg. limitthe results to those published in
2000 onwards. Use the drop-down menus provided.
Limits include “Publication year”, “Humans” (excludes veterinary medicine articles) and “English language”(excludes foreign-language journals). After selecting
all your limits, Click on “Search”.
Search results with your limits applied.
The results display includes the publication details of each article found plus links to abstract,
complete reference (abstract and subject headings)and full text if available. Click on “Complete
reference” beside the first article.
“Complete reference” display. Scrolldown for …
… subject headings and abstract.Subject headings can give a
good idea of the subjectscovered in the article. Thosewith asterisks are the main
(“Focus”) subjects of the article.
Scroll back to the top of the page and clickon “Results display” to return to the
search results. Do not use the “Back” keyin your browser.
As you scroll through your search results, tick the box in the left-hand margin
beside any references you want to printout. Then click on “Print preview” in the
Results manager box below.
Selected search results ready to print.You can use the “Print” command in your
browser at the top of the screen.
Or you can send results in anemail. Tick the references you want and then click on “Email”
Type the email address in the “To” box and clickon “Send email”. Make sure the address is
correct or the email will be lost.
You can look at the full text of any articleswith a “full text” link in the right-hand
margin. Click on “Ovid full text”.
Full text. Print options will be available.Select PDF if available – this is a
scanned copy of the article which is best for printing.
PDF copy of article. Use the PDF print icon to print.
You can run the search in a new database. Clickon “Change database”
Click on the name of the databaseyou want to search in next.
Select CINAHL.
Select “Open and re-execute” to run your searchin the new database. This will save you typing
the search terms a second time.
The same search is run in the new database. Sometimes this doesn’t work because different
databases use different subject headings – if thishappens, just type in the search term again and
re-combine your search terms.
Further information:
• If there are articles or books which can’t be downloaded from the eLibrary, you can request them from the Maria Henderson Library document request service
• You can arrange training sessions with library staff
on doing literature searches
• We can also offer advice by phone or email – just call us if you get stuck with a search!
Maria Henderson Library
• Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow
G12 0XH
• Tel: (0141) 211 3913
• email: [email protected]