Ovid

Printable version

Introduction | Accessing | Searching | Search Results | Managing Search Results | Search Tips | Additional Features

Introduction

NOTE: Effective July 2005, the Ovid Web interface has changed. We are currently updating Ovid help sheets and tutorials. The following tutorial is based on the old interface. Please contact a librarian if you need assistance. The Ovid Web databases contain a wealth of medical information. Significant Ovid Web databases include: Books@Ovid YourJournals@Ovid Current Contents/Clinical Medicine Current Contents/Life Sciences Current Contents/Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences EMBASE Drugs & Pharmacology Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HAPI) MANTIS: Manual, Alternative and Natural Therapy MEDLINE–the premier source for medical research Mental Measurements Yearbooks Many of these databases do require knowledge of medical terminology, however some are useful for basic medical research. Ovid Web databases are only available to NSU students, faculty and staff.

Accessing

This database may be accessed from the Databases page of the Electronic Resources section of the NSU Alvin Sherman Library website. For more on how to access databases visit http://www.nova.edu/library/dils/lessons/electroniclibrary/

Searching

When opening Ovid Web a list of databases will appear select the appropriate database by clicking on the database name To select up to five databases: select the appropriate check boxes select continue Ovid Web opening screen. When you open any database in Ovid Web the screen defaults to the Advanced search mode which offers these options: Keyword-enter a word or simple phrase Author–click the Author icon to search for documents written by a specific person Title–click the Title icon to search for a word or phrase contained within a document title Journal–click the Journal icon to search for documents that appeared in a particular journal Search Fields–click the More Fields icon to search for a word or phrase contained within one or more document fields Search Tools-limit a search by: Scope Note, Tree, Permuted Index, Explode or Subheadings For a Basic Search or a Citation Search, use the tabs at the top of the screen to cahnge displays. To construct a search in an Ovid Web database. type your search term(s) in the Search box use the Limit to check boxes as needed, including publication year click the Search button to obtain a list of records Advance search in Ovid Web.

Search Results

Search results will vary. If you get: No records matched your search, then check your spelling or the fields you searched in. Too many, then go back and limit your search. Sometimes a search needs to be modified with: additional search words, searching only a specific field, adding date limitations, or type of materials. Too few, then go back and expand your search. Consider synonyms for your search words or concepts. Try to use professional language or terminology. Irrelevant results, then try new search terms. Consider synonyms or related concepts. Identify and search using descriptors. Try a different database. A box will appear at the top of the search screen, select display to see the results. A list of search results matching your search terms will be displayed. The Titles Display shows abstract–citation and summary complete reference–citation, summary (if available), and subject headings library catalog holdings–links to NovaCat to search NSU holdings. Search results in Ovid Web. The information in the citation display page, especially the title of the item and the abstract (summary) of the item will help you determine if you need the item.

Managing Search Results

Databases typically allow you to manage your search results by marking or tagging records to select only the records that you want from your search results from later printing, emailing and/or saving printing the search results list and/or specific records emailing the search results list and/or specific records to your email address saving the search results list and/or specific records–some databases may allow you to save your file for export into commercial bibliographic citation manager software, such as EndNote or ProCite Not all search management features are available in all databases. Citation manager The Results Manager appears at the end of every display page. It lets you display, print preview, save, or email citations. Work from left to right to specify the options: Reulsts column–choose which citations to output: currently displayed citations, all the citations in your current set (up to a predetermined quantity), or selected citations. Fields column–select how much information to include for each citation. Select Fields presents you with a list of all fields available in the database. Click the Select Fields button and you are taken to the Select Fields screen, from which you can select any combination to output. Then click "continue". Result Format column–determines the appearance of the citations. Select Ovid unless you know that you need another format (for example, for citation management software). To include your complete search strategy with the output, click the Include Search History checkbox. Sort Keys options – sort and organize your results into a specific order. The Primary Key lets you pick the main sort option–the Secondary Key is used if two or more records have the same Primary Key. Actions - display, print, email, and save Citation Manager in Ovid Web. Marking The “mark” feature allows you to select records from within your search results. By marking items, you can print or email records at one time. To mark a record click in the check box to the left of a title in a Complete Reference or Abstract, click in the check box–top of the screen To view your list of marked records use the Results Manager at the bottom of the screen. You may email, print, or save the citation information, and abstract, subject headings, and references, for the items you have selected – full-text will not be included for marked items even if full-text is available. Printing To print an abstract, complete reference, or table of contents (if available) scroll down to the Results Manager–bottom of screen select the appropriate options in the Citations, Fields, Citations Format, and Sort Keys columns click the Print Preview button use your Internet browser’s print commands to print the item click the Titles Display button to return to your search results To print full text (if available in the title display list, click on the Ovid Full Text link (if available) below the citation scroll down to the Output chart to print the HTML version of the article click on Print Preview select a graphic size click the Continue button use your Internet browser’s print commands to print the item click the back arrow in your browser to return to your search results click the Previous Page button click the Titles Display button to return to your search results to print the PDF version of the article–free Adobe software must be installed on your computer to view this format click on Full Text (PDF) Adobe Acrobat Reader will load click on the print icon in the Adobe Acrobat Reader software click OK in the print dialog box click the Return to Ovid Session button in the upper right corner Emailing To email an abstract, complete reference, or table of contents (if available) scroll down to the Results Manager at the bottom of the screen select the appropriate options in the Citations, Fields, Citations Format, and Sort Keys columns click the Email button enter your complete email address in the To: box click the Send Email button click the Titles Display button to return to your search results To email full text (if available) in the title display list, click on the Ovid Full Text link (if available) below the citation scroll down to the Output chart click on Email Article Text enter your complete email address in the To: box click the Send Email button click the Previous Page button Use your complete email address. Your mail will be sent from Ovid_Online@ovid.com Saving To save an abstract, complete reference, or table of contents (if available) scroll down to the Results Manager at the bottom of the screen select the appropriate options in the Citations, Fields, Citations Format, and Sort Keys columns click the Save button if Ovid Web displays instructions in red follow those instructions to save the item if Ovid Web does not display instructions select the linefeed options click the check box to include your Search Strategy click the Continue button click the OK button select the location to save the file in type a file name click the Save button click the Titles Display button to return to your search results To save full text (if available) in the title display list, click on the Ovid Full Text link (if available) below the citation scroll down to the Output chart click on Save Article Text select a file format click the Continue button click the OK button select the location to save the file in type a file name click the Save button click the Previous Page button Use a word processing program or text editor program to open your .txt file, or an Internet browser to open your .html file.

Search Tips

Use advanced search features to modify a search to obtain more successful search results. You can combine advanced search features to modify and improve your search. Advanced search features often include: phrase or proximity searching field searching date document and/or publication type Boolean operators plurals and truncation One useful tip when searching any electronic database is to leave out articles, prepositions, and very abstract or general terms–they confuse the database's search engine. For example, if the paper is on "The Impact of Mainstreaming Students in Math Classes,” use the most precise terms like mainstreaming and mathematics and skip impact, the, of, and in. Phrase or proximity searching In Ovid Web, there are two ways to search for a phrase type the words in the same search box, as you would expect them to occur–quotation marks are not necessary: higher education curriculum development use adj to search for two words as a phrase: higher adj education curriculum adj development Field searching To limit your search to a specific field in the record click the Search Fields icon–on the Main Search Page type a word or phrase in the Search box click on the check boxes to specify the fields to be searched click the Perform Search button Date To limit a search to specific years in all searches except field searching go to the Limit to section of the search screen use the pull-down arrows to the right of Publication Year to search for specific year (like 2001) – just select a date using the first pull-down arrow a range of years (like 1990-1999) – use both pull-down arrows to select the years from a specific year until the current year ( like 1995- ) – use both pull-down arrows to select the years Publication type Specify a type of document, depending on the Ovid Web database you are using go to the Limit to section of the search screen use the check boxes to limit your search to the resource types listed–varies by database Boolean operators The Boolean operators, AND, OR, and NOT, can be used to modify a search click on the pull-down arrow (below “Search for:”) click on the Boolean operator to use Use AND to narrow a search. AND looks for both terms in the same record. leadership and vision; mainstreaming and science Use OR to broaden a search. OR looks for either term in the same record. mainstreaming or inclusion; elementary education or secondary education Use NOT to eliminate records with a certain term. Saturn not car; Venus not planet Plurals Use the following symbols in Ovid Web databases to locate plural forms, truncate search terms, or replace characters: $1 Regular plural forms. school$1 retrieves both school and schools $ Any number of characters at the end of a word. leader$ retrieves leader, leaders, leadership $number A maximum number of characters at the end of a word. computer$4 retrieves computer, computers, computerized not computerization # One character. defen#e retrieves both defense and defence ? Zero or one characters. behavio?r retrieves both behavior and behaviour

Additional Features

Additional limitation features Ovid Web databases allow additional search limits, including subject areas, publication types, age groups, gender, languages, and more that are not listed on the main search pages. These additional limitation can only be accessed after you have performed your initial search by clicking on the Limit icon that will appear above your Search History. Mapping Vocabulary mapping in Advanced Mode helps you find subject headings (index terms) that are used in the database to describe a topic. Ovid automatically checks the Tree or Thesaurus for the most appropriate terms, and displays those terms in a list. This feature is only available in databases that have a checkbox labeled Map Term to Subject Heading.