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MEDLINE: A Guide to Effective Searching in PubMed and Other Interfaces

2007; University Library System, University of Pittsburgh; Volume: 95; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3163/1536-5050.95.2.212

1558-9439

Melissa L. Rethlefsen,

Medical Research and Practices

With this new edition of the highly regarded MEDLINE: A Guide to Effective Searching, pharmacist Katcher again produces an excellent, easy-to-read guide to the intricacies of MEDLINE [1]. Unlike other books published about MEDLINE, such as Hutchinson's MEDLINE for Health Professionals [2] and Stave's Field Guide to MEDLINE [3], the goal of Katcher's book is not to provide a practical guide to using MEDLINE but, instead, to promote the “cultivation of an informed and thoughtful approach to searching in MEDLINE” (p. vii). Indeed, this book does not focus on the minutiae of searching or the strategies of constructing a good search; it has no screenshots and few images. What it promises is understanding—understanding of why and how MEDLINE was created, understanding of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and record structures, and, ultimately, understanding of what MEDLINE makes possible. The second edition's title is the first of many changes to the book, and it signals an important change in its tone and scope: a new respect for and focus on using PubMed. In the first edition, Katcher bluntly states that interfaces like PubMed's “cannot produce search results anywhere near as good as the ones that you will be able to produce with this book” [1]. By this edition, he admits that PubMed “works surprisingly well, especially if you have an idea of what is going on in the background” (p. 23). PubMed tools and features like Related Articles, Clinical Queries, and Special Queries are prominently featured in the chapter on searching. This change of heart reflects the current shift of many medical libraries away from using Ovid and other vendors' versions of MEDLINE to the freely available PubMed, and both reflect the improvements in Web technology and PubMed since 1999. Though Katcher clearly feels more generously toward PubMed than he did in 1999, he still cautions that, though searchers demand speed and ease of use in this age of Google, “MEDLINE can be fast, but it is a different beast. Effective searches require planning, and refinement as well … MEDLINE is elegantly organized … it expects us to ask carefully, unambiguously—and it provides the means for doing so” (p. viii). The second edition still largely resembles the first edition in structure and general content. After the preface and introduction outlining the scope and purpose of the book, Katcher delves into the history of MEDLINE in his first chapter—the only chapter remaining nearly unchanged from the first edition. This chapter's content seems as if it would be somewhat dry, but Katcher spices it up by combining history together with the theory behind MEDLINE, making this chapter the foundation on which the rest of the book stands. Subsequent chapters cover record structure and fields, MeSH, publication types, and a final chapter gives guidance on framing questions and planning and refining searches. Appendixes cover Web resources and the journals in the Abridged Index Medicus set. A glossary of MeSH terms has been removed from the second edition. One of the largest and most important additions to the book is the expanded coverage of the differences between MeSH terms and Supplementary Concepts, particularly the detailed look at the Pharmacological Action category, created in 2003. Using the Pharmacological Action category captures more MEDLINE citations than using the equivalent MeSH terms, which the text illustrates with helpful examples. Katcher explains the new category and other supplementary concepts more fully and clearly than sources like the NLM Technical Bulletin, thus making this new terminology and searching opportunity easily comprehensible, even for the MEDLINE novice. “Framing Questions and Other Practical Tips,” the fifth chapter, is a particularly useful guide to starting research with MEDLINE. Katcher advocates and emphasizes putting thought and deliberation into searching without seeming old-fashioned or pedantic. He acknowledges that doing research is hard work and not just as easy as typing in a keyword or two, but he still offers hope by providing ways to make it easier. Simple strategies such as writing down key concepts, being specific, and rethinking search terms and research questions when results are less than useful are guidelines that all researchers could benefit from employing. Practical tips for finding other information sources, evaluating different types of literature, and dealing with conflicting information offer additional insight. The largest revisions to Katcher's book take place in “Appendix A: MEDLINE Interfaces and Related Resources on the World Wide Web.” As with the first edition, content for this appendix will be available and updated online [4] due to its frequently changing nature. The primary focus here is on specific methods of searching for health information, particularly interfaces and resources available for finding health information online. Though an appendix, it contains some highly useful commentary; for example, a lengthy discussion of PubMed's special features, in-process citations, and Entrez offerings as well as suggestions for keeping up to date. The appendix contains a significant number of new resources to help readers find journal articles and general health information online. In fact, Katcher now devotes five pages to Web-based health information sources, including search tools like Google Scholar and OAIster, practice guidelines and evidence-based medicine tools like the National Guidelines Clearinghouse and Cochrane, public health Websites such as the Partners in Information Access to the Public Health Workforce and Healthy People 2010, image searching tools including HEAL, and library-provided tools for professional medical and consumer health searches. This bibliography of tools and its corresponding Web version would be very useful for beginning researchers or anyone interested in finding quality health information on the Web. Overall, Katcher's book proves a well-written, quick read perfect for medical librarianship students, physicians, and researchers or anyone interested in improving their MEDLINE searching abilities. It contains the background medical librarians must wish all MEDLINE searchers knew and understood. This book is in no way a practical tutorial for using MEDLINE, but a guide to MEDLINE's depths that serves as a strong footing for a reader's future research. MEDLINE: A Guide to Effective Searching in PubMed and Other Interfaces is highly recommended for medical librarianship courses and medical library collections.