JISCMail - LIS-MEDICAL Archives

I sometimes use terms like anaesthesia, paediatric, aesthetic, orthopaedic etc to show that the thesaurus picks up alternative spellings. Other useful terms to look at are drug names eg panadol/paracetamol/acetaminophen – all will be picked up by using the thesaurus without having to type …OR… OR....

Also worth noting is that the thesaurus in Embase is more detailed with regard to drugs, eg remifentanil has a thesaurus entry in EMBASE but not in Medline. However, the Embase thesaurus tree no longer displays hierarchically and so is less useful for finding related/more precise/broader terms than the Mesh thesaurus.

Regards

Tricia Rey
Library Services Manager
Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
East Grinstead
Tel: 01342 414266
[log in to unmask]">Mailto:[log in to unmask]

From: UK medical/ health care library community / information workers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Johnson
Sent: 13 May 2010 11:06
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: concepts to explain MeSH

don't forget that too many people, including abstracters, cannot spell, especially for some words that are non-English background, where there are actually no agreed terms- thus Punjabi, Panjabi; Gujarati, Gujrathi, Gujerati - all might be picked up in South Asian (Asian is another question indeed - in USA means Cambodian, and others refer to Israel and Turkey as West Asia...)

oh, and when people type Janaury instead of January, they cannot find it.

Mark R D Johnson

Director, MSRC/CEEHD

De Montfort University

Leicester LE2 1RQ

0116 201 3906

From: UK medical/ health care library community / information workers on behalf of Bernadette Coles (Velindre - Library)
Sent: Thu 13/05/2010 10:54
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: concepts to explain MeSH

Hi Kate

If a group starts to look too glazed I tend to use fruit to try and explain tree structures and exploding in the hope that when they see the ‘trees’ in the future they make the connection back!! LOL

Starting with a general search for ‘fruit’ then delving further out along narrower branches for ‘apples’ then narrowing down again to ‘braeburn’ or ‘pippins’ etc.

A good example of why using Mesh is a good idea is to look for articles on bed sores. They are referred to in 4 ways ‘bed sores’ pressure sores’ ‘pressure ulcers’ ‘decubitus ulcers’ but all these terms are caught in a single search by using the MeSH term PRESSURE ULCER

Good luck!!

Bernadette

Bernadette Coles
Site Librarian ~ Cancer Research Wales Library
Velindre Cancer Centre
Velindre NHS Trust
Whitchurch
Cardiff
CF14 2TL
Tel: 02920 316291
Fax: 02920 316972
email: [log in to unmask]

From: UK medical/ health care library community / information workers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lamb Kieran
Sent: 13 May 2010 10:38
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: concepts to explain MeSH

Hi Kate

Don’t know if this will help much but I tend to explain the hierarchical nature of controlled vocabularies and how to use explode on a white board with the example of Great Britain (just list the tree structure), mainly because it appeals to the anarchist in me! Of course if I was doing it with powerpoint or anything posh I would have a big black fused grenade displayed!

Kieran

From: UK medical/ health care library community / information workers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kate Boddy
Sent: 13 May 2010 10:20
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: concepts to explain MeSH

I have been asked to do a searching workshop to explain MeSH and was about to ask the group for ideas….This seems like a good chance as I have really enjoyed all the discussion on Boolean.

Many thanks

Kate

From: UK medical/ health care library community / information workers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sutton, Sarah A.
Sent: 12 May 2010 16:50
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: using everyday concepts to explain Boolean operators

Boolean operators is easy compared to how MESH headings work or what they are.. not that really is where their eyes glaze over.

Best wishes

Sarah

From: Norrey Barbara (5PX) Mid Essex PCT [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 11 May 2010 14:48
Subject: Re: using everyday concepts to explain Boolean operators

Without wishing to be a killjoy - should we not be giving our trainees a little more credit ?

Surely the only point that needs to be made is that AND combines and focuses (retrieving only when both words appear) and that OR has a wider scope (retrieving when both or either one appears).

Does it really matter whether the items are saucepans and lids, tomatoes or peppers, hats/nurses/pizzas/hospitals.....and so on ? It is the singularity and the plurality that matter.

It is surely not that difficult a concept to explain that searching anywhere for 2 things 'together' (x and y) will probably retrieve smaller results than looking for items either 'together' or 'apart' (x or y) ?!

best Barbara

-----Original Message-----
From: UK medical/ health care library community / information workers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Veronica Murray
Sent: 11 May 2010 13:54
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: using everyday concepts to explain Boolean operators

On the other hand, there are fewer shops selling “hats and shoes” than there are shops selling “hats” or “shoes”, so if you wanted to buy hats and shoes in a single trip [search], you would first have to look for shops selling both.

Veronica Murray

Subject Librarian (Health, Midwifery and Nursing)

University of the West of Scotland

Paisley Campus

Paisley PA1 2BE

0141 848 3760

[log in to unmask]

From: UK medical/ health care library community / information workers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jonathan Dews
Sent: 11 May 2010 13:46
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: using everyday concepts to explain Boolean operators

Dear All

Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how you can use everyday concepts to explain Boolean operators. If you search for 'teenagers and obesity' you get fewer results than if you search for 'teenagers' or 'obesity' separately. However if you buy hats and shoes you get more in your shopping bag and if you mix gin and tonic you get more liquid in the glass.

I still can't see a better method than using the standard venn diagrams.

Jonathan Dews

***************************************************************************************************************

University of the West of Scotland aims to have a transformational influence on the economic, social and cultural development of the West of Scotland and beyond by providing relevant, high quality, inclusive higher education and innovative and useful research.

Visit www.uws.ac.uk for more details

University of the West of Scotland is a registered Scottish charity. Charity number SC002520.

***************************************************************************************************************

Legal disclaimer

--------------------------

The information transmitted is the property of the University of the West of Scotland and is intended only for the person or entity
to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Statements and opinions expressed in this e-mail may not represent those of the company. Any review, retransmission, dissemination and other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender immediately and delete the material from any computer.

--------------------------