This document provides instructions for searching the PubMed database. It begins by explaining what PubMed is and how it is developed by the National Library of Medicine. It then discusses important concepts for an effective search like search operators, MeSH descriptors, and methodology. Specific steps are outlined for constructing searches using MeSH terms and filters. Examples are provided to demonstrate searches on topics like nursing care in stroke, psychological aspects of obesity, and sinusitis treatment with amoxicillin.

1. 1
LEARN
HOW
TO
SEARCH
ON
SONIA
GARDIM
&
JULIANA
TAKAHASHI
&
YUKA
SAHEKI
“WANDA
DE
AGUIAR
HORTA”
LIBRARY
–
SCHOOL
OF
NURSING
–
UNIVERSITY
OF
SAO
PAULO
BASIC
MODULE
2014
Transla)on
to
English:
Aline
Goncalves

2. 2
WHAT
IS
PUBMED?
DEVELOPED
BY
NATIONAL
LIBRARY
OF
MEDICINE
AND
NATIONAL
CENTER
OF
BIOTECHNOLOGY
INFORMATION
LINKS
TO
FULL-­‐TEXT
BIOMEDICINE
LITERATURE
AND
RELATED
FIELDS
(RECORDS
SINCE
1948)
SEARCH
PORTAL
+
DE
23
MILLION
REFERENCES

3. 3
BEFORE
STARTING
YOUR
SEARCH
IT
IS
IMPORTANT
TO
KNOW
ABOUT:
HINT
SEARCH
OPERATORS
MESH
DESCRIPTORS
HINT
1
2

4. 4
SEARCH
OPERATORS
DEFINE
THE
RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN
KEYWORDS
OR
GROUPS
OF
KEYWORDS
DURING
THE
SEARCH
PROCESS
...
WHAT
ARE
THEY?
HINT
1

5. 5
FOOD
HABITS
FOOD
HABITS
food
AND
habits
SEARCH
OPERATORS
AND
FIND
ALL
KEYWORDS
(RETRIEVES
RECORDS
CONTAINING
ALL
THE
SEARCHED
KEYWORDS)

6. 6
DISTANCE
EDUCATION
DISTANCE
LEARNING
“distance
educaUon”
OR
“distance
learning"
SEARCH
OPERATORS
OR
FIND
ANY
KEYWORD
(RETRIVES
RECORDS
CONTAINING
ANY
OF
THE
SEARCHED
KEYWORDS)
USE
“
”
(QUOTATION
MARKS)
FOR
PHRASE
SEARCH

7. 7
PREGNANT
WOMEN
DIET
“pregnant
women"
NOT
diet
SEARCH
OPERATORS
NOT
ELIMINATES
RECORDS
THAT
CONTAIN
A
CERTAIN
KEYWORD

8. 8
8
?
ANALY?E
=
ANALYZE
,
ANALYSE
*
EPIDEM*
=
EPIDEMY,
EPIDEMIC,
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL,
EPIDEMIOLOGY,
ETC.
WILDCARD
OPERATORS
REPLACES
CHARACTER
VARIATIONS
IN
THE
MIDDLE
OF
A
WORD
TRUNCATION
USED
WHEN
SEARCHING
FOR
WORDS
WITH
THE
SAME
ROOT

9. 9
WHAT
ARE
MESH
DESCRIPTORS?
STANDARD
TERMINOLOGY
THAT
HELPS
DEFINING
TOPICS
AND
RETRIEVING
RELATED
ARTICLES
DESCRIPTOR
USED
BY
MEDLINE
DATABASE
ON
PUBMED,
DEVELOPED
BY
THE
NATIONAL
LIBRARY
OF
MEDICINE
(USA)
HINT
2
MEDICAL
SUBJECT
HEADINGS

10. 10
WHAT
IS
THE
METHODOLOGY
FOR
AN
EFFICIENT
SEARCH?

11. 11
FORMULATE
YOUR
SEARCH
QUESTION
IDENTIFY
THE
TOPICS
OF
YOUR
INTEREST
OR
POSSIBLE
KEYWORDS
DEFINE
WHICH
DATABASES
(GENERAL
OR
SPECIFIC)
WOULD
BE
BETTER
FOR
YOUR
SEARCH
VERIFY
WHETHER
THE
DATABASE
MAKES
USE
OF
KEYWORDS
OR
A
CONTROLLED
VOCABULARY
USE
MeSH
TERMINOLOGY
(DESCRIPTOR
USED
BY
MEDLINE
DATABASE
ON
PUBMED)
WHAT
IS
THE
METHODOLOGY
FOR
AN
EFFICIENT
SEARCH?

12. 12
SEARCH
STRATEGY
USING
MESH
SELECT
MESH
TYPE
IN
THE
TERM
IN
ENGLISH.
E.G.:
DENGUE
CLICK
TO
SEARCH
dengue
www.pubmed.gov

13. 13
CLICK
ON
THE
TERM
SEARCH
STRATEGY
USING
MESH
www.pubmed.gov

14. 14
IF
NECESSARY,
SELECT
A
QUALIFIER
AND
CLICK
HERE
TO
ADD
IT
TO
YOUR
SEARCH
STRATEGY
SEARCH
STRATEGY
USING
MESH
www.pubmed.gov

15. 15
CLICK
HERE
TO
SEARCH
SEARCH
STRATEGY
USING
MESH
www.pubmed.gov

16. 16
SEARCH
RESULTS
www.pubmed.gov
189
RESULTS

17. 17
CLICK
HERE
TO:
-­‐
CHOOSE
FORMAT
-­‐
NUMBER
OF
ITEMS
PER
PAGE
-­‐
SORT
ARTICLES
SEARCH
RESULTS
www.pubmed.gov

18. 18
SENDING
RESULTS
www.pubmed.gov
SELECT
THE
ARTICLES
YOU
WISH
TO
SEND
AND
CLICK
HERE
TO
SEND
BY
E-­‐MAIL

19. 19
USING
LIMITERS
(FILTERS)
www.pubmed.gov
USE
SOME
FILTERS
TO
REFINE
YOUR
SEARCH

20. 20
www.pubmed.gov
IN
THIS
EXAMPLE,
WE
HAVE
USED
3
FILTERS
USING
LIMITERS
(FILTERS)

21. 21
www.pubmed.gov
NUMBER
AFTER
FILTER
USE:
19
ARTICLES
USING
LIMITERS
(FILTERS)

22. 22
www.pubmed.gov
.
CLICK
HERE
TO
SEE
FULL-­‐TEXT
VIEWING
ARTICLES

23. 23
www.pubmed.gov
AND
THEN
CLICK
HERE
VIEWING
ARTICLES

24. 24
www.pubmed.gov
IF
YOU
WANT
TO
SAVE
IN
PDF
FORMAT,
CLICK
HERE
VIEWING
ARTICLES

25. 25
EXERCISE
1:
www.pubmed.gov
USING
QUALIFIERS
NURSING
CARE
IN
STROKE

26. 26
EXERCISE
1:
www.pubmed.gov
QUALIFIER
(FOUND
ON
MESH)
NURSING
CARE
IN
STROKE
MAIN
TOPIC
HINT

27. 27
EXERCISE
1:
www.pubmed.gov
stroke/nursing
NURSING
CARE
IN
STROKE
ANSWER
QUALIFIER
(FOUND
ON
MESH)
MAIN
TOPIC

28. 28
EXERCISE
2:
www.pubmed.gov
USING
QUALIFIERS
PSYCHOLOGICAL
ASPECTS
OF
OBESITY

29. 29
EXERCISE
2:
www.pubmed.gov
.
QUALIFIER
(FOUND
ON
MESH)
MAIN
TOPIC
PSYCHOLOGICAL
ASPECTS
OF
OBESITY
HINT

30. 30
EXERCISE
2:
www.pubmed.gov
obesity/psychology
PSYCHOLOGICAL
ASPECTS
OF
OBESITY
MAIN
TOPIC
QUALIFIER
(FOUND
ON
MESH)
ANSWER

31. 31
EXERCISE
3:
www.pubmed.gov
USING
SEARCH
OPERATORS
SINUSITIS
TREATMENT
WITH
AMOXICILLIN

32. 32
EXERCISE
3:
www.pubmed.gov
QUALIFIER
(FOUND
ON
MESH)
MAIN
TOPIC
SINUSITIS
TREATMENT
WITH
AMOXICILLIN
MAIN
TOPIC
SEARCH
OPERATOR
AND
HINT

33. 33
EXERCISE
3:
www.pubmed.gov
sinusiUs/drug
therapy
AND
amoxicillin
ANSWER
MAIN
TOPIC
SINUSITIS
TREATMENT
WITH
AMOXICILLIN
QUALIFIER
(FOUND
ON
MESH)
MAIN
TOPIC
SEARCH
OPERATOR
AND

34. 34
EXERCISE
4:
www.pubmed.gov
USING
SEARCH
OPERATORS
SINUSITIS
TREATMENT
WITHOUT
AMOXICILLIN

35. 35
EXERCISE
4:
www.pubmed.gov
SINUSITIS
TREATMENT
WITHOUT
AMOXICILLIN
QUALIFIER
(FOUND
ON
MESH)
MAIN
TOPIC
MAIN
TOPIC
SEARCH
OPERATOR
NOT
HINT

36. 36
EXERCISE
4:
www.pubmed.gov
SINUSITIS
TREATMENT
WITHOUT
AMOXICILLIN
QUALIFIER
(FOUND
ON
MESH)
MAIN
TOPIC
MAIN
TOPIC
SEARCH
OPERATOR
NOT
sinusiUs/drug
therapy
NOT
amoxicillin
ANSWER

37. 37
OTHER
TOOLS
www.pubmed.gov
ON
PUBMED
DON’T
KNOW
THE
COMPLETE
REFERENCE
FOR
AN
ARTICLE?
SEARCH
HERE!

38. 38
55-­‐11-­‐30617524
55-­‐11-­‐30617525
SONIA
GARDIM
&
JULIANA
TAKAHASHI
&
YUKA
SAHEKI
“WANDA
DE
AGUIAR
HORTA”
LIBRARY
–
SCHOOL
OF
NURSING
–
UNIVERSITY
OF
SAO
PAULO
bibee@usp.br
TranslaUon
to
English:
Aline
Goncalves
QUESTIONS?
ASK
A
LIBRARIAN