| Functionality |
Ovid |
EBSCO |
ProQuest |
| Boolean operators |
And / or button choices
Type “not” into the search bar if using (e.g. 2 NOT 1)
Option:
or/1-4 as shortcut to 1 or 2 or 3 or 4
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And / Or button choices from Search History
And / Or / Not choices from drop-down menu on Advanced Search
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No button options - need to type in your And/Or/Not combinations into the search box
Search could be written either: 1 and 2 is the same as S1 and s2.
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| Default field code |
.mp. This is database specific.
In Medline: mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, floating sub-heading word, keyword heading word, organism supplementary concept word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms
Myocardial infarction.mp.
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All fields
myocardial infarction
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All fields
"myocardial infarction"
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| Phrase searching |
Default phrase searching without “” |
Default phrase searching without “” |
Must use “” for phrase searching: “word word“ |
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Truncation & wildcard:
Truncate with any number of character
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* or $
nurs* (nurse nurses nursing etc)
nurs$ (nurse nurses nursing etc)
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*
nurs* (nurse, nurses, nursing etc)
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*
nurs* (nurse nurses nursing etc)
MAX 5 CHARACTERS
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Truncation & wildcard:
Wild card with 1 or 0 characters
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?
wom?n finds woman or women
p?ediatrics finds paediatrics or pediatrics
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? wom?n finds woman or women.
# p#ediatrics finds paediatrics or pediatrics
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? or *
Wom*n finds woman or women
Wom?n finds woman or women
? OR [*1]
Nurse*1 (nurse nurses)
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Common field codes:
Title/Abstract
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Heart attack.ti,ab. |
TI (heart attack) or AB (heart attack)
Field codes have to be in CAPITAL LETTERS, Booleans do not
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ti(heart attack) OR ab(heart attack)
or
TI,AB(HEART ATTACK)
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Common field codes:
author
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Patel.au. |
AU patel |
au(patel) |
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Proximity:
Near within (either direction)
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adjX adj5 would mean “four words or less” |
nX
n5 would mean “five words or less”
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near/X
near/5 would mean “five words or less”
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Proximity:
Next to (in order)
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adj |
wX
w5 would mean “five words or less”
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pre/X or p/X
pre/5 would mean “five words or less”
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| Display |
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Chronological - default
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Can sort by any field (e.g. database, author, entry date, journal etc) but does not list relevance as an option except in Basic search
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Date newest - default
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Date oldest
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Source
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Relevance
This can be set in your preferences
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Relevance
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Oldest first
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Most recent first
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Subject headings:
standard
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Examples use Medline’s MeSH
Schizophrenia /
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(MH "Schizophrenia+") |
MAINSUBJECT.EXACT("Schizophrenia")
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Subject headings:
Exploded
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Exp Schizophrenia / |
(MH " Schizophrenia +") |
MAINSUBJECT.EXACT.EXPLODE("Schizophrenia") |
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Subject headings:
Focused
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* Schizophrenia / |
(MM " Schizophrenia ") |
MJMAINSUBJECT.EXACT("Schizophrenia (Disorganized Type)") |
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Subject headings:
Exploded and focused
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Exp *Schizophrenia / |
(MM " Schizophrenia +") |
MJMAINSUBJECT.EXACT.EXPLODE("Schizophrenia") |
| Extra subject heading functionality |
“Term Finder” (in Medline only) gives access to controlled vocabulary, definitions and related terms from Unified Medical Languages System (UMLS). |
“Apply equivalent subjects” (in Advanced Search) uses mapped vocabulary terms to expand the search, when a search term matches a known concept. |
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| Export functionality |
1000 per set (first set 1-1000, second set 1001-2000, etc) |
Can export full set of hits up to 25,000 |
Would recommend batches of up to 500 at a time.
Clear folder to export second set of 501-1000.
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| Export formats |
Microsoft Word, PDF, txt, Microsoft Excel, EndNote, RefWorks, RIS, XML. |
RIS, XML, BibTeX, EndNote, RefWorks, Reference Manager, Zotero, CSV. |
RefWorks, RIS, PDF, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, txt. |
Tips: Copy paste not working? |
Check that you’re using straight quote marks - so " " rather than “” |
Full set export will arrive in an email as a zip file containing RIS file |
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