The Parts of PubMed
The Search dropdown box and the links along the top allow you to choose which database you are searching. For now we will limit ourselves to PubMed. Later in the term you will be using several of the other databases; they all use the similar interfaces, so the methods of searching should be familiar when you need to switch to a new database.
The first section we will be using is the search box at the top. Here we type the terms we are searching for and click 'go' to search for them. This will bring up a list of the results.
Preview/Index is the second section. It does exactly the same thing except that it allows you to click preview, which just brings up the number of results without actually loading them onto the page. This is useful for speeding up the searching process. To see the actual results you click on the number of resulting hits. The lower search box will ADD more search terms connected by the Boolean operator supplied to the terms already displayed at the top of the screen. It also specifically limits the added search to the field picked. This page also includes the last 3 searches performed.
The next section, History, will allow you to see all of your previous searches from this session. This is the best screen for combining search terms.
The Limits section allows you to control several aspects of the returned results. This does not effect any searches that have already been performed, only ones performed in the future. You can limit by date, article type (see Types of Articles) and articles in a specific language, among others less relevant to this assignment. After you have enforced limits there will be a check box next to Limits in the bar near the top of the page showing that some limits are in force. If you wish to remove them all you need do is uncheck the box.
Details allows you to see and manipulate the searches you have been doing using a more powerful command line. However, this requires that you know all of the abbreviations that are being used for the graphical choices you were making earlier. Looking at searches performed in the rest of the site is a good way to learn how this section works.
The final section of the side is the navigation bar on the left. It allows you to access the various help functions, get to related resources on the rest of the web and look through several sets of terms that they use. The list of all of the journals they index along with how they are abbreviated is located here, “Journals Database”. If you really want to get the most out of PubMed you will want to explore the various Help functions along with examining searches in the Details section.
