IV. Searching CiNAHL

Subject Searching VS. Keyword Searching

Subject Searching

  • Subject searching involves searching the subject headings (sometimes called descriptors) of records
  • The database producer assigns subject headings to books and articles from a list of terms used specifically for that database.
  • The database thesaurus, ensures that all items about the same topic have consistent subject headings.
  • Users can then retrieve all the items on a topic using a single term, even when there may be several good ways to state a concept.
  • Not every topic fall neatly into a precise subject heading that really reflects what is being covered.
  • If you are not satisfied with results of subject searching, the next step is to try keywords.

Keyword Searching

  • In CiNAHL a keyword search finds words in fields that have descriptive content, such as title, subject headings/descriptor, and abstract.
  • In a keyword search you can retrieve a number of irrelevant items because the computer is looking for the exact word you typed, not for the meaning or context of the word.
  • For example, a search on AIDS will retrieve items on
    • aids for the hearing impaired
    • school aids
    • AIDS (the disease)
  • Keyword search is the best method when
    • there is no subject heading for your topic
    • the subject heading is too general or too specific
    • you are searching for a new trend or concept
  • When searching by keyword, use only significant words, not common words, such as the, of, an, and that. Such words may be stop words, words that occur too frequently to search.

Subject Searching in CiNAHL: "Finding articles on Depression in the Elderly"


1. To Search for subject headings in CiNAHL choose "CINAHL Headings"

 

2. Type in the keyword or concept you are looking for. In this case depression. Be sure to choose "Relevancy Ranked", then select "Browse"

3. Choose the most relevant term

4. This will give you a display that allows you to work with your term. Note the Tree Views which show the hierarchy of the subject heading. CiNAHL subject headings go from least to most specific. If a subject heading has more detailed subject headings beneath it then it is said to "Explode". Indexers do not use the entire heirarchy when indexing. So for instance articles on Depression in general will have only the subject heading Depression, not the broader term Affective Disorders. L:ikewise articles that are on Postpartum Depression will only have the subject heading "Depression, Postpartum", not Depression. To search a term and all the narrower subject heading choose the "Explode" box. In the case of depression + using "Explode" will search Depression, Depression, Postpartum, Depression, Reactive, and Dysthymic Disorder. It will NOT search Seasonal Affective Disorder as this is at the same heirarchical level as Depression.

5. You can also choose to search by "major concept" which means that the subject has been rated major as opposed to "minor". "Major" topic means that the subject heading is of major importance in the article.At this point we have chosen "Explode" and "Major Concept" and then chosen "Add". This has placed our search in Find box, (MM "Depression+").

6. The next step is to search for the concept of elderly by browsing for it.

7. We then click on Aged as that is the term CiNAHL uses instead of Elderly. We then get the page that shows us how we can use the term Aged.

8.At this point we will again choose to include the explosion of aged as the more specific headings are just as helpful as the less specific heading "aged". We will again choose to select major heading. Finally we add the subject heading to the search by choosing "AND" and then select "Add".

9. We have now finished building our search and can search it by hitting the "Search"

10. We then get the results page for our search. There are a number of ways we can work with the results. First if the article looks interesting to us and has "linked Full Text" we can go directly to the article, as is the case for record #2. For records for which no full text is provided we can select the "Find article @ SCSU" button which well try and find the article/journals in full text for you from our other full text sources.

11. In the case of the first search the journal locator has determined that we do not own the article and offers us the option of doing an Interlibrary Loan. Fill out the ILL form with the data from the citation and we will get you a copy of the article and email it to your email address.

In the second case it is indicated that we do have the article. Select the journal link and follow the path to the actual article.

 

12. You can also select all the citations you are interested in by going through the pages and choosing the "Add" folder. When you are done select the "Folder has items" and go to the folder.

13. You can then obtain your full text in the same way as mentioned above and then you can print off your list of citations. You may also export your Citation to Refworks for alter use when writing your paper in word. To do this select "Save to Disk" and see the Refworks Tutorial at http://www.library.southernct.edu/refworkstut.htm

Next: Another Search