Ovid basics: other fields
2004 version 2
24 May 2004
Each MEDLINE record is made up of a number of individual fields, most of which can be searched. A complete example using the article we are searching for here is shown in Appendix 1 .
You know that Anne Ponsonby works from the Australian National University, and you think she is employed by the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health. The 'institution' field can be used to search for this. However as the 'institution' field is not standardised, you select the word most likely to be present:
1. Select from the Main Search page icons;
2. Select (click) the institution option;
3. Scroll to the top of the screen and;
4. Type australia$ in the search box and use
Figure 10: Search fields/indexes screen
This results in the following:
Figure 11: Search history resulting from an additional search for the institution containing the word 'australia' or 'australian'
You can apply the above to other indexes in the list, including those where you can otherwise use the author, title, and journal name icons at the top of the screen. Having selected a field, enter the word or phrase for which you would like to search. If you are unsure about the format of the field (for example those involving dates) click the button to the left of the field name and a box will appear with instructions.
If you wish to see where your term appears in the alphabetical list (index) of the field chosen click the button.
Other useful fields/indexes include:
Unique identifier - useful for retrieving known articles for ordering purposes;
Personal name as subject - for finding biographical information about an author.
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