Keyword searching: text words
2004 version 2
24 May 2004
When keyword searching is needed
Some concepts are new or obscure and are not covered by subject headings so need to be searched by keyword alone, eg severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003. Very specific searches for drug names may also need to be searched by keyword, as do vague concepts not readily fitting into the controlled structure such as patient attitudes. The best way of doing this is to use the field shortcuts .mp. and .tw.
It is possible to search for a term in more than one field by placing a comma between each field code. In the enter Keyword or phrase box on the Main Search page coronary heart disease.ti,ab,sh. will search for the words in the title, the abstract and the subject heading fields. However the code .mp. (map to text) is used to simultaneously search the title, abstract, and subject headings fields so the equivalent of the above is coronary heart disease.mp. If you simply type the word or phrase into the search box when the Map Term to Subject Heading box is de-selected then the field .mp. will automatically be applied.
Figure 27: Mapping keywords
The code .tw. (text word) is used to simultaneously search the title and abstract, so chd.tw. is the equivalent of chd.ti,ab.
Any questions? Please contact the MEDLINE Plus help desk:
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email: info.medline@bma.org.uk
web: http://www.bma.org.uk/medline