Search Feature

Ovid

PubMed

Term Mapping

Allows you to select from a "pick list" of medical subject headings associated with your topic so that you can choose the most appropriate MeSH heading for your topic (or search by key word).

Doesn't allow you to select MeSH headings; the system automatically determines which MeSH heading best matches your term. The system will simultaneously search by keyword.

Explode and Focus

Offers the option to explode and/or focus the subject heading that you select. Exploding means the database will also search for narrower terms associated with that heading. Focusing means you want to find articles where your subject heading is considered the major topic of the article.

Terms are automatically exploded but not automatically focused unless you begin your search with the MeSH Browser and select "Detailed Display." This will provide you with the opportunity to customize your query.

Subheadings

Prompts you to choose one or more subheadings that are associated with that topic.

Does not prompt you to choose subheadings. The easiest way to select subheadings is to begin your search with the MeSH Browser and select "Detailed Display" to customize your query.

Limits

Provides more extensive limit options for publications types, animal types, and languages are provided by Ovid. Ovid also allows you to select multiple limits of the same type (i.e. age groups).

Limit options are similar but less extensive in PubMed. You can't select multiple limits of the same type (for example, you can't limit to more than one publication type at the same time).

Combining Concepts

You must perform separate searches for each concept before combining the search sets using and, or, or not; otherwise the system defaults to keyword searching.

Allows you to combine concepts without having to create sets for each concept, and without losing the MeSH term mapping feature. You can also combine search sets using the "History" feature.

Searching Specific Fields

Guides you through the process of searching authors, titles, and journals if you use the icons at the top of the screen. (You can't search for journal abbreviations in Ovid.) The "Search Fields" icon allows you to search for particular words or numbers in any field.

Doesn't guide you through the process of searching for authors, titles, and journals. (You must already know, for example, that authors must be entered last name first, then initials). You can search for journal abbreviations. To search specific fields, use either the Citation Matcher or choose the specific field you wish to search from the "Fields" menu on the "Limit" screen.

Term Definitions

Provides links to brief definitions of terms throughout the search interface. Click on the red "i" button to see a term's definition as well as associated terms for which it is used.

Definitions to terms are only available if you look them up in the MeSH browser. Some citations in PubMed offer the option to link to "Books" which will redisplay the citation and abstract with some of the words highlighted as hypertext links. These links provide more information about that word from full-text electronic books.

Evidence-based Medicine Resources

Provides the search limit "EBM Reviews" which will restrict your search to those articles that have been used as the basis for a Cochrane Review or have been the subject of a review in Best Evidence. Ovid's publication limits provide another useful way to limit searches to rigorous clinical studies. You can select multiple publication types in Ovid, but not in PubMed.

"Clinical Queries" feature provides a way of searching MEDLINE using predefined search filters that retrieve clinical studies relating to etiology, prognosis, diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of disease.

Links to Full-Text Electronic Journals

When Himmelfarb subscribes to full-text electronic journals through Ovid, there will be a direct link to the full-text article.

PubMed's "Link Out" feature provides links to journal publishers who provide full-text journals, often for a fee.

Local Catalog Information

Citations retrieved indicate whether Himmelfarb Library owns the journal in which the article is found. The absence of such an indication means that the Library does not carry that journal.

This feature is not available in PubMed.

Multiple Database Searching

With the latest version of Ovid, you can choose to search up to five databases at once, including MEDLINE, AIDSLINE, CINAHL, EBM Reviews, HealthSTAR, etc.

This feature is not available in PubMed.

Related Article Search

This feature is not available in Ovid.

Provides a "Related Links" button next to each citation for retrieving similar articles.