Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Medical Library

Database Search Translation: Skills & Techniques

Database Search Translation

 

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“Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine”

– Peter Sondergaard, Senior Vice President & Global Head of Research at Gartner, Inc.

 

Database search translation skills refer to the ability to effectively translate research questions into search strategies that can be executed in electronic databases to retrieve relevant literature.

Medline indexed databases such as PubMed offer access to millions of citations and abstracts on biomedical literature. Cochrane Library database contains high-quality, independent evidence to support healthcare decision-making

Browse NTU library database collection

Translate Medical Subject Headings to Subject Headings

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Medical Subject Headings

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) are controlled vocabulary terms used to index biomedical and health-related articles. MeSH helps to organize and retrieve articles from Medline databases like PubMed & Cochrane Library.

Watch the video & learn how to translate MeSH terms from PubMed to Cochrane Library Database. 

Subject Headings

Databases such as Embase, use subject headings called “Emtree” terms to index articles in the fields of biomedicine, pharmacology, and life sciences. These are standardized terms used to describe the MeSH terms in biomedical articles.

Watch the video & learn how to translate MeSH terms from PubMed to Subject Headings on Embase database.

Refer to Cochrane Guidlines

 Translate Full Search Strategies from PubMed database to multiple research databases

Research topic: Mental health outcomes on medical students

Watch this video and learn how to conduct a full search translation from PubMed to Cochrane Library Database

Working on Medline Databases

Watch this video on PubMed search translation across multiple databases

Checking for accuracy and consistency - Refer to Cochrane Guidelines

8-Step approach to database search translation skills:

 

  1. Understanding Research Questions: Clear understanding of research objectives, including population, intervention, comparison, and outcome.
  2. Identifying Keywords: Finding relevant terms and synonyms for search queries.
  3. Using Boolean Operators: Combining search terms effectively with AND, OR, NOT.
  4. Applying Truncation and Wildcards: Capturing variations in search terms.
  5. Utilizing Database-Specific Syntax: Understanding search syntax for different databases.
  6. Filtering Results: Refining search results based on criteria like publication date or study type.
  7. Adapting Strategies: Tailoring search strategies for different databases.
  8. Iterative Refinement: Continuously refining search strategies based on feedback and results.

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For general enquiry: medlib@ntu.edu.sg

Database search translation

Data Collection

Data Appraisal

Data Extraction

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Developed by: Senior Medical Librarian, Rebecca David

Lead for Information Literacy & Student Research Support Services

Next Page: Data Collection