The cochrane library

The Cochrane Library Online
. If you use NOT between search terms, you will Quick Reference Card
retrieve documents containing the first term but not thesecond term. For example, entering ulcer NOT stomach willretrieve documents containing the word “ulcer” without theword “stomach” Phrases
The operator NEXT will link the word or phrase following NEXT to the
word or phrase before NEXT. For example, entering breast NEXT
Cancer will retrieve documents containing the phrase “breast cancer”
The operator NEAR searches on words that are within 6 words of
each other. For example, entering breast NEAR cancer will retrieve
documents containing such phrases as:
Cancer was found in the breast following… …that breast lumps indicate possible cancer.
Wildcards (truncation)
When searching for a word, the search system looks for an exact To search the library
match unless the word ends with an asterisk (*). The asterisk symbolacts as a 'wildcard' and matches all words that begin with the string of Enter a term in the Search Phrase box that appears near the top of
characters before the asterisk. For example, entering arter* will the left pane and click on the button labeled Go. All databases in the
retrieve documents containing words such as “artery”, “arteries”, library are searched, and the results are shown under each database Restricting searches
Databases which contain “hits” matching the chosen search term areshown in blue whilst the titles of those databases which contain no Searches can be restricted in various ways by clicking on the Refine
“hits” are shown in grey. The number of “hits”, that is documents your search link underneath the Search Phrase window.
meeting the search criterion or criteria, is shown in brackets at the endof each database title. The second figure in the brackets is the total Restricting by date of publication
number of documents in each database.
Enter the first and last dates of the search range required in the Date
Range boxes. The range selected in inclusive. To restrict to a single
Click on a database name to open a drop−down list showing the titles publication year, enter that year in both Date Range boxes. You must use the full four−digit number for the year (e.g. 2001) To browse all documents
Other options
Click on a database name without entering a search term in the Search Phrase window. A drop down list showing the titles of first 20
documents within that database will be displayed. To navigate throughthe document titles use the arrows at the top and bottom of the To view a document
Click on a title of a document in the left pane to display the text of thedocument in the right pane. The option to search only those items which have been withdrawn isalso included.
Printing documents
Restrict Search to Specific Field
To print any document diplayed in the right pane click the "Printerfriendly document" link at the top of the document. This will open the document in a new browser window. You can then use your browser's "print" function to print that document.
Abstract
Publication
only publication type field (this field is only available Combining search terms
Boolean Operators
Note: Some records do not have all fields. Abstracts and Publication You can combine search terms using the words: AND, OR, NOT,
Types, in particular, are missing from or not relevant to many records.
NEAR and NEXT.
These records will not be retrieved if the search is restricted.
. If you use OR between search terms, you will retrieve documents containing at least one of those terms. Forexample, entering aspirin OR paracetamol OR pain will Clear a Search
locate documents containing any of these terms.
AND
. If you use AND between search terms, you will only To clear your search at any time, click on the Clear
retrieve documents that contain each of the terms specified.
For example, entering aspirin AND ulcer AND stomach willonly retrieve documents containing all three terms The Cochrane Library
Feedback
Quick Reference Card
The Cochrane Library includes a system for submitting comments andcriticisms on documents within many of the included databases.
Search History
After reading a document in The Cochrane Library, click on the send a Following each search, the search number and search term will be comment link at the top of the document. Follow the instructions and shown under 'History'. Your search history can be viewed by clicking
on the History button in the menu bar. Users with individual
usernames and passwords can also choose to save and rerun
How to cite from The Cochrane Library
previous searches. Further information about how to edit and savesearches can be found in the help files.
The various databases on The Cochrane Library have set forms ofcitation as follows: Click on Clear button on the left hand side of the History page to
entirely clear the present search history.
• e.g. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews − "The Cochrane
Database of Systematic Reviews. In The Cochrane Library, Issue 2, Other tips
2003. Oxford: Update Software. Updated quarterly." • Citing a review or protocol: − "Authors. Title (Cochrane Review).
• You can move backwards and forwards through the documents
In: The Cochrane Library, Issue2, 2003. Oxford: Update Software." selected during a session by clicking on the Back and Forward
buttons in the menu bar.
Always click the Exit button on the right hand side of the menu bar to
• Documents in some of the databases are divided in to sections (e.g.
abstract, discussion, references etc). You can view the list of section
headings for any such document displayed in the right hand pane by
clicking on the Outline button in the menu bar. To jump to a specific
section within the document such as the conclusion simply click on
the section heading in the outline.
• You can return to the results of your most recent search from the
MeSH, Topics or History options by clicking on the Records button
in the menu bar.
Rules for Searches
When conducting a search using more than one word, several rulesapply: 1.All text is searched unless restrictions are set (using the refine your More in−depth information about how to use The
search link under the search phrase window).
Cochrane Library can be found in the library help files.
3.Stopwords are ignored (see the Help files within the library for a list These can be accessed by clicking on the Help button
in the menu bar.
4.All terms that begin with a number are ignored, but terms that begin with a character and then continue with numbers will be searchedon.
5.Punctuation at the beginning and end of words is ignored.
6.Asterisks (*) are wildcards.
7.The search is 'read' from left to right, however, terms within brackets 8.Phrases are selected as if the words are joined by the operator NEXT. For example, stroke unit is equivalent to stroke next unit.
MeSH terms are indexing terms taken from the MeSH (Medical
Subject Headings) thesaurus, which is created, maintained and
provided by the US National Library of Medicine. MeSH indexing is not
used in all databases within The Cochrane Library: no MeSH terms
are included in the CDSR Protocols, CDMR or CMR databases. In the
CENTRAL database, MeSH indexing is only included in the records
taken from MEDLINE. Full details of the searching for MeSH terms is
given in the Help files, or by clicking the MeSH button on the menu
bar.

Source: http://www.biblioteca.uach.cl/pdf/cochrane_quick_reference_card.pdf