MEDLINE provides authoritative medical information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, and much more. Created by the National Library of Medicine, MEDLINE allows users to search abstracts from over 4,000 current biomedical journals and to link to full text for articles contained within the Biomedical Reference Collection: Basic database.

1. Enter your search terms or keywords in the dialog box labeled "Find."
2. Click "Search."
3. If you get too many results, you might want to Limit your search. To get more results, you can Expand your search. See below for more information on these two options.

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Advanced Search

Use the Advanced Search to add flexibility to your search or to conduct a search using specific fields, such as article title, author, subject, word(s) in an abstract, and journal name.

1. On the Basic Search screen, click the blue "Advanced Search" tab.
2. Break your topic into keywords or phrases and enter one concept per search box. The following keywords are especially useful in combination with others:

   WITH NAMES OF BODY PARTS abnormalities anatomy blood supply cytology drug effects embryology injuries innervation physiology surgery transplantation ultrastructure

   WITH NAMES OF DISEASES complications congenital diagnosis drug therapy epidemiology etiology genetics mortality nursing pathology prevention radiography radiotherapy rehabilitation surgery therapy transmission veterinary

   WITH NAMES OF DRUGS adverse effects administration analysis dosage therapeutic use toxicity

3. To search a specific field (author, article title, journal name, etc.), change the pull down menu from "Select a Field" to the appropriate field name.
4. Medline will automatically "Suggest Subject Terms" when you search. See below for more information on this feature or uncheck the box on the search screen.
5. Click "Search."

Limits
You can use the limiters to help narrow your search. You will get fewer results using a limiter. Limiters work together, so checking the box for Full Text and the box for Peer Reviewed will only return documents that are in full text and from peer reviewed journals.

1. Journal- Limits to a specific journal; only use this if you know the journal is available in this database.
2. Linked Full Text- Limits to articles that are available in full text through a linked database. Note: Articles that maybe available in Full Text in other databases or in print will not appear if this box is checked.
3. Author- Limits to articles by a specific author. MEDLINE only uses last names and initials. Example: to limit to articles by Samantha Hawkins, enter Hawkins or Hawkins, S. (advanced search only)
4. Date of Publication- Limits to articles published within a specific date range.
5. Abstract Available- Limits to articles with abstracts.
6. English Language- Limits to articles in English.
7. EBM Reviews- Limits to reviews from evidence-based medicine review databases.
8. Review Articles-Limits to review articles.
9. Humans- Limits to articles with humans as patients.
10. Animals- Limits to articles with animals as patients.
11. Gender- Limits to articles with the specified gender as patients.
12. Age Related- Limits to articles with the specified age group as patients. You can select more than one by holding down the Ctrl key.
13. Subject Subset- Limits to a particular subject subset. You can select more than one by holding down the Ctrl key.
14. Journal & Citation Subset- You can select more than one by holding down the Ctrl key.
15. Publication Type- You can select more than one by holding down the Ctrl key.
16. Languages- Limits to articles in the selected language. You can select more than one by holding down the Ctrl key.
17. Animals- Limits to articles with the specified animals as patients. You can select more than one by holding down the Ctrl key.

Expanders
You can use expanders to increase your search results. However, you may find that you get too many irrelevant results.

1. Also search for related words- Expands your search to include synonyms and plurals of your keywords.
2. Also search within the full text of the articles- Expands the search for your keywords from just the citation to include the citation and the full text of the article (if available).

Suggest Subject Terms (MeSH - Medical Subject Headings)
This is a useful tool that lets you select the appropriate MeSH subject term, expand or narrow your results, qualify your search, and see related subject headings.

1. To utilize this feature, make sure the check box "Suggest Subject Terms" is marked (available only on the Advanced Search Screen).
2. Enter a search term in the "Find" search box. Click "Search."
3. A list of subject terms ranked by relevancy is returned. Click on a term to display its details.
4. The details page includes a list of broader and narrower terms (tree views), a list of subheadings (click on a subheading for details), a scope note (definition), and related headings.

5. Once you have found a subject heading, click the "Add" button (near the top) to add it to your search. Make sure to use the appropriate Boolean term (and, or, not).
6. To search for more subject headings, add a new term in the "Browse for:" box and click "Browse."
7. After adding subject terms, click "Search" to find articles.

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Search Results & Accessing Full Text

1. Results are first displayed in a list format including: article title, author, source (journal or magazine name), date, volume #, issue, page/column numbers, and number of pages.
2. The default is to sort records by date. Using the "Sort by" pull-down menu you can sort results by source, author, or relevance.
3. Clicking on an article title will take you to the citation record, which provides additional information, such as an abstract (summary of the article) and subject terms.
4. To keep track of useful articles, you can "Add" articles to your folder (on the right next to an article). You can then print (HTML or citations), save, and email records all at once. Be careful, the folder empties if you close your browser window!

Full Text
The full text of some articles will be available in MEDLINE. If the full text is available, you will see:

1. , which is the full text of an article without charts, graphs, pictures, or page numbers.
2. , which is the full text of an article that includes images.
3. , which is the full text of an article available as a PDF document. A PDF is a copy of the print version of an article and includes page numbers, charts, pictures, and graphs.

If the full text of the article is not available in MEDLINE, you can check its availability at the Ely Library (online and print) using the Full Text Periodical Directory.

1. Click on the "Click Here to Check Availability in the WSC Full Text Periodical Directory" link or on the Library's Home Page (http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/) select the "Full Text Periodical Directory" link.
2. In the "Search for a magazine, journal, or newspaper" box, enter the journal title (labeled as "Source"). Do not include the date or volume number.
3. Compare the "Coverage" dates with the date of your article and select a database that includes your date.
4. Once you have selected and entered a database, search for the title of your article.
5. If you have trouble locating a document, contact a Reference Librarian.

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Printing, Saving, & Emailing Results

Printing, saving, and emailing results are available from the citation page (clicking on a title) or from the folder page.

1. 
   1. Clicking print takes you to the "Print Manager."
   2. On the left, you can click "Estimate Number Of Pages" to see how many pages will be printed.
   3. Under "Include when printing," you can check the box for "Industry Citation Format." This will include a citation for your article in MLA, APA, or another citation style.
   4. If HTML Full Text is available, it will be included when printed. There is a check box on the right to not include the full text when printing.
      1. For a PDF, click on . You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.
      2. Click on the Adobe Printer icon toward the left of the Article window .
   5. Click "Print".
   6. A new screen will open and your browser's print window will appear. Click "Ok."
      
2. 
   1. Clicking E-mail takes you to the "E-mail Manager."
   2. Enter your full e-mail address (e.g. yourname@wsc.ma.edu) and a Subject you will recognize.
   3. Under "Include when sending," chose from the following: "HTML Full Text (when available)" and "PDF as separate attachment (when available)." You can also check the box for "Industry Citation Format." This will include a citation for your article in MLA, APA, or another citation style.
   4. Click "Send." You will get an acknowledgement and can then click on "Continue."
   5. Your e-mail message will arrive from ephost@epnet.com with the subject heading you provided.
3. 
   1. Clicking save takes you to the "Save Manager."
   2. Under "Include when saving," chose from the following: "HTML Full Text (when available)" and "HTML link(s) to article(s)." You can also check the box for "Industry Citation Format." This will include a citation for your article in MLA, APA, or another citation style.
   3. Click "Save." Your article is not saved yet.
   4. You are directed to a web page with the article you want to save. To save the article, from the "File" menu in your browser, select "Save as." "Be sure to save as a plain text file (.txt) or a 'Web Page, HTML only' file (.html)."

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URL: http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/med/med.htm
Page maintained by David Podboy
Last updated May 9, 2007