Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About MEDLINE™
This
page is currently being updated. The following information
may be inaccurate at this time.
What exactly is
MEDLINE?
MEDLINE™ is the National Library of Medicine's searchable database of
over 12 million citations from more than 4,600 medical, dental, health and scientific
journals. Launched by the NLM in 1971, MEDLINE contains citations of dental
articles dating back three decades to 1964.
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How can I access
MEDLINE?
There are many versions of software designed
to access the MEDLINE database. For
information on using the NLM
Web site to search for article
citations and obtain photocopies of complete journal articles
from the ADA Library, see MEDLINE/Loansome
Doc for ADA Members. 
Commercial MEDLINE interfaces—mostly on
the Internet—include Medscape, PaperChase,
Physicians' Online and Ovid. These products
that allow you to interface with the same MEDLINE database,
but they have
different search engines and features. Some are free, others
involve costs. However, only NLM's
free PubMed interface offers the Loansome Doc ordering service,
in which the ADA Library
participates. To use this service, see MEDLINE/Loansome
Doc for ADA Members.
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How
do I learn to use PubMed?
As in all things, practice helps, but
the system is quite user-friendly. The basic interface is
very simple, but PubMed also can do more complex searching
for the experienced
user.
The ADA Library suggests that you take
advantage of PubMed’s Help files or tutorial to learn more
about how the search engine works. You are also encouraged
to call the ADA Library for assistance.
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Will
MEDLINE
give me complete articles?
MEDLINE does not provide the full text of
journal articles, but about 75 percent of the citations
contain "abstracts," or summaries, and all carry
Medical Subject Headings. These provide information to help
the user select the most appropriate articles.
The National Library of Medicine's PubMed
software and some commercial MEDLINE interfaces have links
to full–text articles, usually for a fee, but few
dental journals are available at present. Some of the commercial
firms offer a document delivery service for ordering
photocopies. For ADA members, however, it is usually more
cost-effective to obtain photocopies from the ADA Library.
See
Services and Fees for ADA Members, and MEDLINE/Loansome
Doc for ADA Members for
online ordering options.
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What's
the difference between subject and keyword searching in MEDLINE?
Most MEDLINE search engines allow you to
search both by Medical Subject Headings, the controlled
vocabulary, and by "keyword," usually meaning words
in the title, abstract or subject headings. Subject searching
is more precise and will usually result in a narrower search
and fewer hits, while keyword searching means a broader search
and more hits.
In most cases, subject searching with
Medical Subject Headings provides the most satisfactory
results. However, though keyword searching can result in a
huge set of articles in which many miss the mark, using
keywords may be necessary, or even preferable, when there is
no good Medical Subject Headings term available. This is often
the case with new or unusual concepts or terms.
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Does MEDLINE cover all dental and medical journals?
No, it covers only a particular group of
journals, chosen for the quality and importance of their
content. Of the 17,000+ health sciences journals received by
NLM, only about 4,600 are indexed in MEDLINE. Only certain
dental journals are included in this group.
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Why can't I find
this month's journals in MEDLINE?
There is a time lag for entry in the MEDLINE
database. Every article is individually evaluated and assigned
subject headings by an NLM–trained indexer, so it is a
very labor-intensive process. Some major medical journals appear
soon after publication because they are given high priority
for research purposes. Other medical journals and those for
specialty areas, including nursing and dentistry, will have
a
longer lag time before they are searchable in MEDLINE.
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What if I don't
find any articles that fit my needs?
The problem may be your searching methods.
It does take some practice to use MEDLINE effectively. Try
PubMed's Help files or tutorial to become familiar with
its features. If you continue to have problems locating
the right information,
or
you’d just prefer to have our Library staff find you some
articles, please call us at x2653.
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