The MEDLINE database: structure
2004 version 2
24 May 2004
Structure
Each record contained in the database is broken down into separate sections or fields (eg author, title, abstract). A full MEDLINE record taken from the BMA library's system is shown in Appendix 1.
To aid retrieval of information the database is fully indexed using over 22,000 standard or thesaurus terms. These are called Medical Subject Headings or MeSH for short and they are arranged hierarchically in what is called the MeSH tree structure - broad topics branching into progressively narrower topics. Appendix 2 gives more detail.
Searching using these indexing terms helps to overcome particular problems that can arise (and cause important material to be missed) if simply searching for your own words or phrases in the text of the titles and abstracts of the records making up the database. For example, the use of singular and plural forms, the differences between British and American spellings and the use of synonyms by different authors.
The following printed guides are available for MEDLINE:
Medical Subject Headings - list of MeSH terms plus guide to the hierarchical MeSH tree structure for end users;
Annotated MeSH - alphabetical list of MeSH terms plus scope notes explaining their use;
Permuted MeSH - alphabetical list of all words used in MeSH terms;
MeSH Tree Structure - hierarchical listing of MeSH terms.
The permuted MeSH index and MeSH tree structure can be viewed online using the BMA library's MEDLINE Plus system, and the Ovid software helps you to find the most appropriate MeSH headings for your search (see Appendix 2).
Any questions? Please contact the MEDLINE Plus help desk:
Tel: 020 7383 6224 or 6737
email: info.medline@bma.org.uk
web: http://www.bma.org.uk/medline