+

Concepts and Skills for Information Retrieval and Literature Research

John PellAssistant ProfessorHunter College Libraries

+To Follow Along:

Go to libguides.library.hunter.cuny.edu/ph

755

Links and documents are all here.

+Overview

The Big PictureBasics of Full-Text Retrieval at Hunter

MeSH Terms and the Structure of MEDLINE

Boolean Logic

+

The Big PictureWhy Learn about the information retrieval?

+Information Literacy

A few key information literacy performance indicators related to this workshop: Investigating the scope, content, and organization of

information retrieval systems Selecting controlled vocabulary specific to the discipline or

information retrieval source Constructing a search strategy using appropriate

commands for the information retrieval system selected (e.g., Boolean operators, truncation, and proximity for search engines.)

“Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education”(2000) http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency.

+Basics of Full-Text Retrieval Getting from a citation to the actual document.

+Setting up Google Scholar to Work with Hunter College Libraries

Start with Scholar Preferences

+Setting up Google Scholar to Work with Hunter College Libraries

In “Library Links” search for Hunter College Library and select

it.

+Retrieving Full Text from Google Scholar

Once your Scholar Preferences are configured, full text links at Hunter will display for available

articles.

+Verifying the Availability of Journals at Hunter Libraries

You can access a search of Hunter’s journal holdings through

this link.

+Verifying the Availability of Journals at Hunter Libraries

Details about online and print availability and coverage display

in the search results.

NOTE: This search is will not tolerate errors in spelling or

variations in wording.

+MeSH Terms and the Structure of MEDLINE

+

Here are four different interfaces that can be used to search the MEDLINE database:

+EBSCO

+OVID

+Web of Knowledge

+Pubmed

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The basic structure of the MEDLINE database behind each of these interfaces is the same.

+Important Things to Understand about MEDLINE and PubMed:

All of the records in MEDLINE are indexed with NLM's controlled vocabulary, the Medical Subject Headings.

PubMed contains in-process citations which provide a record for an article before it is indexed with MeSH and added to MEDLINE or converted to out-of-scope status Citations that precede the date that a journal was selected

for MEDLINE indexing.

CONTENT of PubMed > Content of MEDLINE

+MeSH Terms?

MeSH is the National Library of Medicine's controlled vocabulary. It consists of sets of terms in a hierarchical structure that permits searching at various levels of specificity.

Example of the Hierarchical Structure of MeSH: Movement

Exercise Swimming

“Entry Terms” help guide queries to MeSH categories For example, “Vitamin C” is an entry term for “Asorbic Acid”

+Important Information Captured by MeSH Terms

Population Characteristics Age, Race, Country of Origin

Study Characteristics Clinical Trial, Literature Review, Meta-Analysis

Important Facets of a Major Topic Prevention and Control, Etiology, Genetics

+Features of the Ovid Interface

The Advanced Search offers you the option of selecting MeSH terms related to your search

terms.

+Features of the Ovid Interface

When selecting specific subheadings, the number of articles available under that

heading is displayed.

+Features of the Ovid Interface

Options for analyzing and manipulating your search history are accessible on the same page

as your search results.

+Features of the Ovid Interface

You can export a formatted bibliography into Word, PDF, or a

citation manager.

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Boolean LogicThe structure of a MEDLINE query

+Using Boolean Logic to translate a topic into a search query:

Statement of Topic or Research Question

Keyword 1 Keyword 2 Keyword 3

(A OR B OR C) AND (D OR E OR F) AND (G OR H OR I)*

*Where A – I are terms related to the keywords above

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In-Class Exercise

+Before You Go

Download the In-Class Exercise

Complete the Exercise

Email it to jpell@hunter.cuny.edu This is important! It counts as your

participation and attendance for this session!