Searching the Literature:

Medline

Tools for searching the scholarly literature

• A database is a specialised research tool that

identify useful journal articles

• There are a range of allied health databases:

– Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library,

AMED, SportDiscus, PedRO, PsycInfo and

more …

– Access from Databases tab on Library home

page: latrobe.edu.au/library

Medline Search Screen

Searching in Medline

• You can search by keyword (broader), subject

term (more precise) or both

Scope note

After checking the Scope Note

• Return to subject heading list (click ‘previous page’ or

use back arrow):

– Include all Subheadings, Explode and Continue

Expand the Search History to

display search results

Add a keyword search

• Add * to truncate a word

• Add quotes to search by phrase (2 or more

words)

• Un-tick the box ‘Map Term to Subject Heading’

• Use alternate terms

Combine with OR

• Remember: OR means more!

• Same search term, just searching in two

different ways: keyword (broader search) and

subject term (more precise search)

Add another concept to the search

• Expand the search history

• Tick the boxes for searches 3 and 6

• Combine with And = 1078 results

Combine searches

• Limit by date, language and more …

Additional limits available

Search result: highest level of

evidence

Results display

Full citation record

Saving and retrieving searches

1. Create an account

2. Save Search history

3. Retrieve saved search: login to My Account >

My Workspace > My Searches and Alerts

Search Results – Finding the full text

• Select the Full Text Finder to link to your

article:

• If not available, search for the journal title from

Journals tab on the Library homepage

• If the journal is not held, request the article from

Document Delivery Services

latrobe.edu.au/document-delivery/