OVID Mediline Instructions

The OVID system interface provides access to MedLINE and a number of additional bibliographic databases including AidsLINE, CancerLIT, BioethicsLINE and ClinPSYCH, a database containing information in the clinical psychology and psychiatry literature. In addition, OVID provides linkages to the full-text of 86 different biomedical titles directly from the bibliographic search result. Please contact library staff for a listing of full-text titles available through OVID.

OVID may be accessed from any workstation connected to the Pacific network backbone. In addition, OVID may be accessed from remote sites with user ID and password.

To access OVID:

1. Point the browser to the following URL: http://gateway.ovid.com

2. At the "Welcome to OVID" screen click on "Start OVID". (If accessing from a remote location enter the user ID and password at the appropriate prompts followed by clicking on "Start OVID".)

3. The "Select a database" screen will then be displayed. Click on the entry of interest from the listing.

4. The search formulation screen is then displayed and search terms may by entered at this point.

search formulation screen or the "logoff" entry in the "Select a database" screen. Performing this procedure will insure that the system user license will be available for subsequent searches and users will not be "locked out" of the system if additional access is desired.

Additional hints and features of the OVID system:

Subject searching: Enter terms or short phrases in the "enter keyword or phrase" bar followed by clicking on the "perform search" button. The OVID system will then map the terms or phrases to relevant subject headings. Terms can then be selected from this "mapping display". Please note that subject headings are derived from an index of controlled vocabulary terms known as "MeSH" or "Medical Subject Headings". MeSH terms are hierarchically arranged in "MeSH Trees". To view the trees which display broader and more specific terms click on the subject term from the mapping display screen. After selecting MeSH terms the subheading screen is displayed which allows for the linkage of specific subheadings to the selected terms. "Diagnosis" or "treatment" subheadings may then be linked at this point in the construction of a search strategy. Keep in mind that it is not necessary to use subject headings in your search strategy. Occasionally the subject headings displayed in the "mapping" screen are not appropriate for the search topic in which case "key-words" or "text-words" which describe the topic may be used. Please consult the Summer 1998 edition of the library newsletter for a discussion of key-word vs. subject heading search strategies. Library staff will be happy to provide you with this story.

Title and citation display -- The title display screen appears after the system has performed the search. Scroll down the screen to view the articles retrieved. Click on the "abstract" entry to display a summary of the article of interest. If a citation is retrieved from one of the journals have full-text available through the system the "full-text" button will appear after the citation. Click on the full-text button to view the entire text of the article as well as figures, tables and photographs which appear in the article.

Citation Manager -- The Citation Manager box appears at the end of every title display. Make selections from the various options appearing in this box to re-display the title listing to include abstracts or display only the citations "checked off" in the selection box which appears before each entry in the title display. Once the citations of interest have displayed appropriately on the screen click on the display button. The screen may then be printed using the print feature of the internet browser which is accessing the system.

Please do not hesitate to contact library staff at 923-3240 if you have questions about the OVID system.