A guide to OVID Basic Search: how to find a few key articles in Medline and Embase NHSGGC Library Network September 2011
Visit the NHS Scotland Knowledge Network www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk and log in at the top right of the screen with your ATHENS account (you can register for an account via the same link). Next choose the Library tab then the Databases tab then Ovid databases e.g. MEDLINE etc under the Popular collections list. A list of available databases is displayed. Clicking on the will tell you more about the subjects covered by the database. Tick the database you would like to search (pay attention to the years covered by each) and click Select Resource(s). The Basic search function in OVIDSP can be useful for a quick preliminary search to find a few relevant articles or to provide a snapshot of the literature published on a given topic. It is not recommended for an in depth and thorough investigation of the literature, the Advanced Search tab is more appropriate for this. Click the Basic Search tab option, to go to the basic search page shown below.
Enter your search topic or question in ordinary English. You have the option to apply limits to your search. Click on limits to view them (see next page). You can limit by language to find only articles in English. You can limit by publication year to find articles from the last 5 or 10 years. If you select the review articles limit in Medline you will narrow down your results to articles that review a subject e.g. literature review, case review etc. Tick the box next to the limit you want to use.
When you tick the Include Related Terms box your original search question is expanded to include word variations, synonyms and acronyms e.g. if you search Child and tick the related terms box you will also search for terms like children, childhood, kid, kids etc. Once you are happy with your search criteria click on the button. Scroll down to see your results displayed in the main search page below. The results tools column on the left hand side displays all your search terms and related terms. Below this on the left hand side are various filters to help narrow down your results. Click on the + next to your chosen filter to view the options and click on the limit to apply it to your search results. The results from a basic search are automatically ranked according to relevancy, with those results deemed to be most relevant (5 stars) appearing first in the list. The subject filters include subjects specific to the conent of your search as well as general ones e.g. human, gender, and age groups. You can limit your results to articles by a particular author or from a specific journal, by using the author or Journal filters. You can limit your results by publication type, for example, to include only journal articles or reviews.
You can also add selected records to a project or create a new project. Projects are folders that you can create within the My Workspace area of OVIDSP. They provide you with space within OVIDSP to store and organise references. Your search terms are highlighted in yellow for an exact match and purple for a close match. There are links to more information in the grey bar on the right hand side. You can select individual references by ticking the box to the left hand side of the article title. At the top of the results list there are options to print, email, export or add references to a project. If you click on keep selected your selected references will appear as the last line on your search history. Three ways to access full text 1. Click on the icon to get direct access to the full text. 2. Click on the full text link in the grey bar on the right hand side. Remember to always follow links for ATHENS log in to access full text. 3. Click on the link to check the Knowledge Network for online full text. If the article is NOT available online, visit www.quest.scot.nhs.uk to request the article from the NHSGGC Library Network.
Next steps Step by Step guide to searching OVID Medline and OVID Embase This guide looks at planning a detailed literature search, searching using subject headings, free text keyword searching and using Boolean commands (AND/OR/NOT) to combine search terms. Other useful features of the OVID databases include: saving/printing/emailing your search results, saving your search strategy to your OVID personal account and exporting your references to reference management software. To learn more about these features and other aspects of advanced literature searching please contact the Subject Librarians Team at LibrarySubjectTeam@ggc.scot.nhs.uk Useful contacts The Specialist Librarians Team is available for general literature searching support as well as individual and group training, contact LibrarySubjectTeam@ggc.scot.nhs.uk For help with your Athens account please contact: GG-UHB.Athens@nhs.net Useful links NHS Scotland Knowledge Network www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk To request articles not available online visit www.quest.scot.nhs.uk For full information on NHSGGC library services visit www.nhsggc.org.uk/libraryservices For help with literature searching Click on Literature Searching > Doing a Literature Search Yourself OVIDSP help materials for literature searching http://www.ovid.com/site/help/documentation/ospb/en/advanced.htm OVID SP training opportunities http://www.ovid.com/site/resources/index_support.jsp