UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS LIBRARIES MEDLINE ON OVID (FULL SYSTEM) HELPSHEET

IMPORTANT KEYS:

USE	FOR	ACTION
< CTRL+A >	Search	To search by individual fields like gene symbol or CAS Registry number.
< CTRL+O >	Easy Mode	To change to easy menu.
< CTRL+Y >	Help	Provide help pertaining to current screen.
< CTRL+K >	View	Display results of chosen search set.
< CTRL+G >	Limit Set	Restrict results of last search by language, year, age, human, etc.
< CTRL+N >	Combine Sets	To combine two or more searches.
< CTRL+B >	Print or Save	Download or print documents through capturing.
< CTRL+D >	Change Database	Change to different years.
Spacebar	Mark	To mark documents for downloading or printing.
< CTRL+X >	Exit MEDLINE	To exit full system.

To navigate, follow the instructions at the bottom of the MEDLINE screen.

TO SEARCH BY SUBJECT:

TIPS:

1. Type in a subject at prompt.	1a. Type in one subject at a time. 1b. If no subject list appears, check your spelling or try textword.
2. Select the closest related subject heading.	2a. If no closely related subject exists, choose textword. < Ctrl+T > 2b. < Ctrl+N > will provide a definition of the highlighted term.
3. Select a narrower or broader term if it is better.	3a. If Narrower subject are all appropriate choose < Ctrl+P >.
4. Select if subject must be the major point of the article.	4a. Select all documents when combining subject with another topic.
5. Select subheadings.	5a. Include all subheadings if combining with other topics. 5b. More than one subheading may be chosen.

TO SEARCH:

Choose field to search, then type in a word, phrase, or search statement.

USE	FOR	TYPE IN
< CTRL+R >	A word or phrase in the title or abstract	AIDS < enter >
< CTRL+U >	An author (last name, initials)	Healy b < enter >
< CTRL+J >	A journal (full title)	New England Journal of Medicine < enter >
< CTRL+A >	Other Indexes	Select "other fields", "indexes", your index, then choose your desired field. Ex. Language.

The following symbols may be used as wildcard characters:

Symbol	Example	Purpose
$	Infect$	Searches for infect as a word or a root word. Retrieves infect, infection, infected, infectious, etc.
#	wom#n	# replaces on character. Retrieves women, woman, womyn, etc.
?	Behavio?r	? replaces on character or less. Retrieves behavior, behaviour, etc.

TO REFINE A SEARCH:

TIPS

Choose combine sets < Ctrl+N > and touch the space bar on the desired sets.
To narrow search choose AND Example: aspirin and pain	Records will contain both aspirin and pain.
To broaden search choose OR Example: labor or childbirth	Records will contain either labor or childbirth.

TO LIMIT A SEARCH TO CERTAIN FIELDS:

TIPS

Choose Limit < Ctrl+G > ; then arrow to desired set and < Enter >.	For an overview of your topic choose "reviews" from the limits list.
Select from list limits to apply and press < Enter >.
When finished applying limits, press < Esc >.

TO DISPLAY RESULTS:

TIPS:

Choose View < Ctrl+K >, then arrow to desired set and press < Enter >.	To see next document, press < N >.
First document of set will be shown.

TO SELECT SEARCH RESULTS:

TIPS:

To mark documents for downloading or printing, press spacebar.

Close document display < Ctrl+L > before printing or saving. Documents will be saved as a set in case of printing problems.

TO DOWNLOAD OR PRINT:

TIPS:

In order to save dicuments in MEDLINE each line of the document must be captured to a file. Printing the document is nothing more than capturing to the printer. The computer must first be set to send the information to a file or to the printer. This is accomplished throught the following steps:

1.  Choose Save	* Do not choose Print!, save works better for both printing and saving.
2.  Choose "save documents" and press < Enter >.
3.  Select the desired document set.
4.  Press < Enter > until the message "Output is about to be dumped to screen" appears.	* If you would like to change the fields to print press < Ctrl+D > (Options).
5.  When you see the message "turn screen capture on" press < Alt+P >.
6.  Arrow down to the line that says "Capture File Name."
7.  Press the < Enter > key.
8.  Type in drive: Ex. a:\filename or b:\filename to save to disk, or LPT1 to print.
9.  Press the < Enter > key.
10. Press the F1 key.
11. Press < Alt+C > to turn screen capture on.
12. Wait for "Capture on" to appear at the bottom of the screen.
13. Press the < Enter > key.
14. After the text finishes scrolling across the screen, press < Alt+C > to turn Capture off.
15. Press < Enter > to return to search screen.

TO EXIT:

At the search screen press &Ctrl+X>, then enter.

FOR MORE HELP:

1. Press < Ctrl+Y >.
2. Use the Tools Menu, < Ctrl+T > to display permuted index, scope notes, or subheadings.
3. Use < Ctrl+A > to search by individual fields like Chemical Abstracts Number.
4. You may wish to use the "Easy Mode." This allows you to search without using the control key.
5. Ask at the nearest service desk.

This tutorial written by:
Karen S. Akins
02/96