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Library video script: Medline (EBSCOhost)

  • This podcast will demonstrate how to carry out a search for journal articles using the Medline database.
  • MEDLINE contains citations, abstracts and some full text articles covering mainly medicine, nursing and dentistry.
  • To find this database from the library website, simply follow the breadcrumb trail as shown here.
  • In this example we are looking at how you would search for journal articles on the treatment of childhood obesity.
  • We’ll use treatment, childhood and obesity as our keywords. By using the asterisk we are truncating specific words and broadening our search . For example, truncating after the t in Treatment will enable the database to search for related terms such as treated and treating.  Variations in word endings will also be found for the terms childhood and obesity.
  • We are also using alternative terms, known as synonyms which have similar meanings to our keywords. In this example, we are searching for the terms therapy and management as well as treatment, and infant as well as child. You will need to use OR to separate the synonyms to ensure the search retrieves all of the relevant results. To make your search even more specific, you could also change the default to title.
  • Then click on Search.
  • The search has returned 570 results.
  • We can reduce the number of results by selecting any of the criteria listed in the Refine Results column to the left of the screen.
  • For example, we are now searching for English language articles published between 2008 and 2011 only. Click on Update to re-run the search.
  • This has yielded 135 records.
  • One further feature of Medline is the option to limit the results by subject headings, ensuring you only retrieve articles which match your chosen topic. Here we have selected three headings associated with obesity management.
  • Click on Update to re-run the search.
  • This has reduced the results to a more manageable 76 records.
  • The results page automatically sorts results by relevance but this can be changed by clicking on the drop down menu  under relevance sort.
  • The articles retrieved will be a mixture of bibliographic information or full text. If, as in this case, there is no full text link under the article, you will see the Find it! at MMU link.
  • You can find out more information on using the MMU Find it! Journal Article Finder on the the Help and Guidance section of the Library Website.
  • To access the full text of an article, simply click on the PDF icon.
  • You can then print off the article, or save it to your MMU personal drive or pen drive.
  • If you would like to find out more about advanced search techniques see the Advanced database searching techniques podcast on the library website.
  • Alternatively, please ask a member of Library staff if you require further help or information.

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