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Print this page off and keep it beside you while you experiment.
There are MANY search engines that look for information on the Internet.
- I use an engine called Google: to find it go to http://www.google.ca/
(When you live in Canada it takes you to the Canadian version - the American
version is google.com).
- Think of how words appear on web pages - the words you put in are what it
looks for. It compares what you put in to what appears on web pages. For example,
if you put in the words the quick brown fox jumps, you will get pages that contain
all of these words - but not necessarily in that order.
- To search for an exact phrase, put it in quotes - for example, "the quick
brown fox jumps" searches for this exact phrase.
- You can also combine two or more phrases in one search: "the quick brown
fox" "was run over"
- Names can be tricky as they are written in different formats on different
web pages - for example, Tillier, "Bill Tillier" "William Tillier"
"Tillier, W." Etc.
- Google has an excellent advanced search page - look for the Advanced Search
button on the main page.
- In Canada it is at: http://www.google.ca/advanced_search?hl=en
- This page is pretty self explanatory.
There are also great search engines just for scientific literature. One is
called Scirus: http://www.scirus.com/
- A search here produces a list of scientific articles (like a Medline search).
To search for used and out-of-print books, an excellent site is: http://www.bookfinder.com/
Entrez is a search and retrieval system that integrates information from databases at NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information), the NLM (National Library of Medicine) and the NIH (National Institutes of Health).
Open the Medline site: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi
The first thing to look for is the search line:
Search Pubmed for [blank] Go Clear
Under that you see another bar across the page:
Limits Preview/Index History
Clipboard Details
To do a simple search here is what to do:
A). Type in your search term:
- If you type a phrase it will look for a phrase - example: inclusion body myositis
- You can also use AND or OR between words - example: inclusion AND body AND
myositis
- You can use a phrase and a connector - example: inclusion body myositis AND
virus
- I don't use OR very often as it creates too large a search.
- As a search, you can type in an author's name - example: Smith
- If you know an initial, use it without a comma - example: Smith A
I usually run an initial search first, then set limits:
B). On the second line click on limits
- The two I use most often are Entrez date and language.
- I set most of my searches on English (if I can't read French or German or
Japanese, it is of no help to me)
- You can set the date to limit how far back the search goes, for example, 1
year limits it to articles appearing in the last year.
- If you are looking for a summary, it is often helpful to use Publication Type
and set it for a review article.
- Enter your limits and click on GO again.
C). Display Line:
- You should now see another list of entries.
- There are a couple of helpful display options on the display line and the
line below it:
DISPLAY summary sort SAVE TEXT
CLIP ADD ORDER
SHOW
- The default just displays the reference to each article. I use the DISPLAY
menu to have it display the abstract, this gives me the reference plus a short
description of the article.
- The default is set to show 20 items at a time. If you want a long list you
can use the SHOW drop down menu to select another number to be shown. For example,
if there are 198 entries, you can choose 200 to display them all in one long
list.
- I usually click on TEXT to give me one long scroll of the items. Then you
can save this onto your hard drive or a disk (click on the SAVE button). I personally
like to press control and the A key to select the whole long list and then press
control and the C key to copy it. You can then paste the list into a word processor
for later use (using control and the V key).
Most University libraries carry many of the main journals, however, many of
these articles will be in obscure journals.
- Most university libraries have a catalogue of holdings that you can search
from home over the Internet. See if the library you have access to, carries
the journal the article appears in.
- Articles can be obtained by your library from other libraries, but the process
is often slow and there is often a fee.
- Today, many articles are available on the Internet, from journals that publish
on-line versions. Some articles appear free and can be printed off directly.
In many cases, you have to pay to download a copy and print it off on your computer,
however, this can be quite costly (some charge $20 per article).
Many articles are beyond the average person. I have a science background and
many are a challenge to me (reading with a number of dictionaries handy).
-One important aspect I have run into a number of times is often your general
practitioner will ask YOU for an article on your illness. Especially with rare
disorders (I am my Doctors only such case), I think it makes sense to obtain
a good general overview of an illness and take the article to your G. P..
Many of these disorders are biochemical and articles often appear in very complex
and specific speciality journals.
- Many journals also focus on specific disorders.
- There are several journals with articles aimed at the average Doctor and these
often contain useful overviews.
-- Examples include: American Family Physician,
JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), The Lancet, and Post Graduate
Medicine.
That should get you started on basic searching. Good luck.
Mail Bill: btillier@shaw.ca
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