This guide concerns use of the three flavors of MEDLINE, a major medical literature database, available on the library's A to Z database list.
See the pages on the left for information about these flavors of MEDLINE.
The Chemical Abstracts Service database, SciFinder, also available in the library's database listing, enables you to search MEDLINE records.
Persons who want to do a thorough search or who will be using MEDLINE extensively may want to review the differences between these interfaces.
A list of features or search capabilities on which you can compare the three flavors are in the next box.
See the other pages of this guide for information about using each flavor of MEDLINE.
Again, if you want to become a MEDLINE "power searcher", compare the three flavors on how they implement the capabilities necessary for your work. Contact a librarian for assistance in making these comparisons, as they relate to your specific purposes or subject areas.
FEATURES TO LOOK FOR
Contact the science librarian if you would like to review nuances of using MeSH terms, or review other features of Medline in any of its flavors.
NOTE ABOUT A LIMITATION OF MESH TERMS:
From: Searching PubMed Using MeSH Search Tags
"Note: Searching with MeSH subject terms excludes citations that have not yet been fully indexed, citations that are out of scope, and others that do not (or do not yet) include MeSH subject terms."
So, realize that to do a comprehensive search, you may want to use them, but supplement them as well with other types of searching that will find records that *don't* have the terms listed. Again, contact the science librarian for assistance.