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One of the greatest advantages to online searching is the ability to use an online thesaurus in certain databases to find preferred and appropriate terminology that cuts to the chase in getting what you want. In this short module you will learn how to use and get the most out of the online thesaurus on ProQuest Dialog™.
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You can use the online thesaurus in certain databases to add precision to your retrieval and save time in coming up with the right vocabulary to get what you want. The thesaurus helps you to find the particular search terms so that you get comprehensive and focused results. An online thesaurus even includes a feature called explode, which allows you to search not only for the main descriptor, but to include all its narrower terms as well. You can specify the descriptor term is the major focus of the articles retrieved and you can link directly to specific aspects of the topic sought.
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ProQuest Dialog makes it easy to find preferred terms in databases that have thesauri. This session focuses on Embase®, but whether you use MEDLINE® or Inspec® or another database with a thesaurus, these steps should guide you. In the Advanced Search form, look to the right above the field codes drop list. Databases with thesauri have a link to Thesaurus. Click Thesaurus to use this online help.
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The thesaurus screen opens. Since you are in Embase®, the Embase thesaurus, also called EMTREE, opens. You can enter terms to search or you can browse terms. Notice the radio buttons underneath the query box to specify "Contains words" or "Begins with."
For help in thesaurus searching click the question mark on the top right of the Thesaurus screen.
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The help text opens, which you can read through to gain a greater understanding of how thesaurus will enhance your work and bring you better results.
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It often works best to click the option to search for terms that begin with, rather than contain words. Enter a term and press Find. Answers appear. It looks like the preferred EMTREE term for words that begin with "motor neuron" is motor neuron disease. Click the yellow sticky pad to read scope notes.
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The scope note confirms that motor neuron disease is the preferred term to use. Click on it to see where it falls in a hierarchy or relation to other terms in its category.
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Subject terms appear in hierarchical view. Click on the plus sign next to a term to see if it has narrower terms. Since there are narrower terms, you can check the box to explode to include narrower terms, if you wish. Check the box for Major term if you want this topic to be the major focus of articles retrieved.
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Click Relational view to see broader, narrower and related terms.
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Click the filter icon to browse Qualifiers and available subheadings for motor neuron disease. We’re going to look at ways to enter subheadings as search queries later. Since Explode and Major descriptor have been checked off you can click Add to search to find records on motor neuron disease or any of its narrower terms.
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ProQuest Dialog entered the search strategy on the top line of the Advanced Search form with the appropriate field code for major Embase subject exploded. You can use Limit options, such as human subjects, clinical trials and publication date range. Perhaps you are doing ongoing research and you only want to include records added since a certain time length, such as the last seven days, three months, 12 months or a specific date range. Click Search.
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ProQuest Dialog reports results and displays your search strategy. The results display in detailed view includes the title, publication date, and the database from which the records came. Notice on the right panel that your results are sorted by relevance. You can change that to most recent or oldest first. You can also narrow your results by Record type, for example, conference paper, article, review, publication title — journal names, Subject, Substance and more. Not shown here is a date slider to further narrow by publication date. You can preview portions of records by clicking the Preview button to the right of titles and you can select records to view together and work with during the session. For example, you can email, print or save selected important records. You can create an Alert or RSS feed, save the search strategy and download all results after refining searches and honing in for relevance.
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Press the Preview button to take a quick look at a record.
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Clicking a title opens a record. This Citation/Abstract view provides the bibliographic information, the abstract (where available) and the indexing, which you will see on the next slide.
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Embase provides excellent indexing. You can see your search terms for motor neuron disease are major descriptors, meaning the articles retrieved are mainly about this subject.
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On another record, notice that the descriptors contain qualifiers or subheadings, such as therapy or diagnosis or disease management or etiology. The qualifiers appear linked to thesaurus terms by double dashes. You can link qualifiers directly to thesaurus terms to focus your search on certain aspects of a disease or drug.
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Use the thesaurus to find your term and restrict to certain qualifiers so that the records retrieved are about those aspects of your subject. For example, you may want to find articles about the etiology of motor neuron disease. Find your term and then browse for the qualifiers you want, such as etiology. Notice the scope note that appeared after you clicked the down arrow next to etiology.
Since you know there are narrower terms for motor neuron disease, check the Explode box. You want the topic to be the major focus of the articles found, so check the box for Major subjects and press Add to search.
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The Thesaurus set up your search statement linking etiology to motor neuron disease exploded as a major subject. Notice the double dashes between motor neuron disease and etiology. See the syntax for exact.explode, parentheses around your terms in quotation marks, and MJEMB as the field code.
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You can enter the query linking a thesaurus term to a full word qualifier or a qualifier code. You can find the subheadings and codes in the Help page under "Resources".
The Basic search form provides a query box for the search statement. Enter the field code mjemb for major Embase subject. Then open parentheses and enter the thesaurus term linked by a double dash to the qualifier code "ET," for etiology, and close the parentheses.
You will be able to narrow results by date range on the Results page.
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Narrow by publishing date from here. To limit to humans, use the Advanced Search page.
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And finally, you can use the Link operator: L-N-K. You can spell out the qualifier term or use its two-letter code.
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To explode a thesaurus term you can enter mjemb dot exact dot explode and link subheadings to a term. When you use "mjemb dot exact dot explode" and the L-N-K operator, use quotation marks just around the thesaurus term. Use quotation marks around the full descriptor, including dash-dash qualifier when you use the dashes. Each of these three examples of exploding a term linked to a qualifier yielded the same results. Notice that the search example limited retrieval to articles published within the last 12 months.
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Use the thesaurus to find the right terms. For example, enter "cancer" to find the preferred EMTREE term for cancer. When "cancer" displays, click on it. Here EMTREE tells you the preferred term is neoplasm.
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Use the Embase thesaurus to find the correct term for a drug name. Most biomedical literature discusses either the U.S. Adopted Name (USAN) or the International Non-Proprietary Name (INN), rather than the trade name. You can find the preferred term by entering the brand name, for example, Zocor. EMTREE points to the preferred term simvastatin and the Scope note lists synonyms.
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And so, to wrap up and review what you learned about thesaurus searching: on the Advanced or Command Line Search forms, check the right side above the field codes drop list. If the database has an online thesaurus you will see a link to Thesaurus. Click the help link at the top right of the Thesaurus screen for help in using the Thesaurus. It is best to use the option to enter terms that begin with letters or words. Where a descriptor has narrower terms, check the option to explode it to include the narrower terms. Check the box off for Major if you wish to make the topic the major focus of the articles retrieved. Use the filter icon to browse and choose subheadings or qualifiers. Enter terms to find out if they are descriptors or to find a pointer to the right term.
