WISER: OvidSP

OvidSP is the new interface for searching many of the science and medicine databases available via OxLIP

Catherine Dockerty

catherine.dockerty@ouls.ox.ac.uk

May 2008

This session

• Access• Searching and indexes• Accessing the full text of papers• Alerts• Exporting records to RefWorks

Access

• http://www.ox.ac.uk– “Libraries” then “e-resources”

• OxLIP (Oxford Libraries Information Platform)– OvidSP

• Remote access– Athens (until June 2008)– Single sign-on (SSO)

http://www.ict.ox.ac.uk/oxford/username/

Searching

• Basic Search– Natural language searching

• Find Citation– Locating specific references

• Search Tools– Indexes and thesauri

• Search Fields– Restricting searches to specific fields

• Advanced Ovid Search– Searching by keyword, author, title or

journal

Online help

• Help– Context dependent

• Display Knowledge Base– Database of queries received by Ovid’s support

team

• Database Field Guide– A guide to all the fields used by the database(s)

you have selected

Limits

• Limit types:– Language– Resource type– Topic– Publication year

• Additional Limits– Not available until a search has been performed

Basic Search

• Natural language searching– Enter search as a phrase or question– Relevance determined by proprietary search

algorithm– For single search terms, use Advanced Ovid

Search instead

• Most relevant 500 records retrieved– For exhaustive searches of all instances of a term

in a database, use Advanced Ovid Search

instead

Sample Basic Search

• The topic under investigation is human deaths as a result of rabies transmitted by vampire bats

• Search term:– rabies vampire bats human deaths

Results Display

• Records ranked in order of relevance by default– Sorting options– Number of records per page

• How relevancy is calculated• Search Aid box

– Lists terms used in search

Record display

• Results– Abstract– Complete reference– Full text– Find it @ Oxford

• Find citing articles– Subsequent articles which have cited this one in

their bibliography

• Find similar– Perform a new search using search terms

taken from this record

Abstract

Complete Reference

Full Text

Find it @ Oxford

Find Citing Articles

Find Similar

Broaden/Narrow your search

• Narrow Search– Subjects– Authors– Journals

• Broaden Search– Add Related Terms

Find Citation

• Useful for clarifying citation details• Truncation for journal and author surname

only• DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

Search Tools

• Map Term– Matches terms with the controlled vocabulary of a

database – This option is not available when searching

multiple databases

• Tree– Displays subject heading within a hierarchical

structure

• Permuted Index– Displays single word within a hierarchical

structure of similar terms, related terms, and used-for terms

Search Tools (continued)

• Scope Note– Displays information about the scope of subject

heading

• Explode– Performs search for subject heading, broader topic

and all related topics

• Subheading– associated terms that focus a search to a specific

aspect of a subject heading

Sample search: migraine

Mapping Display – Migraine Disorders

Tree – Migraine Disorders

Permuted Index – Migraine Disorders

Scope Note – Migraine Disorders

Explode – Migraine Disorders

Subheading Display – Migraine Disorders

Search Fields

• All Fields as default– Any field or combination of fields can be selected– Field descriptions

• Display Indexes or Search

Sample Search Fields search:Title and abstract search for thanatosis

Advanced Ovid Search

• Keyword and Title searches– Single word or phrase searches– Truncation – “$” or “*”

• Author and Journal searches– Indexes

• Combining searches– OR– AND– NOT

• Searches can be entered as one string using parentheses rather than combining sets

Sample Advanced Ovid Search index lookup:Author search for kruger

Sample Advanced Ovid Search:Aedes albopictus as a vector for yellow fever(as opposed to dengue viruses)

Search strategy

• Keyword searches– aedes albopictus– yellow fever

• Combine using AND• Keyword search for dengue• Combine using NOT

Results Manager

• Options– Results– Fields– Result Format– Sort Keys

• Actions– Display– Print Preview– Email– Save

• Text file

Display

Print Preview

Email

Save

Alerts

• Search History– Remove searches you don’t want to save– Save Search History

• Personal Account• Save Current Search

– Temporary/Permanent– AutoAlert (SDI)

• Scheduling Options• Email + RSS• Not available when searching more than one

database

PayPerView Account

• Purchase articles online if Oxford has no subscription

• Interlibrary loan requests

Exporting records to RefWorks

• Results Manager– Results Format

• Direct Export

– Save– Export results to RefWorks

• Account set-up and log in– http://www.refworks.com/refworks

Remember to log off when you’ve finished

Training and help

• OvidSP User Guide http://www.ovid.com/site/pdf/osp/osp_userguide_020108_tabs.pdf

• OvidSP Quick Reference Cardhttp://www.ovid.com/site/pdf/osp/OvidSP_QRC_021108.pdf

• OvidSP Basic Search

http://www.ovid.com/site/pdf/osp/OvidSP_Best%20Practices_in_Basic_Search_2-1-08.pdf

Further help available

• Ask for help from any member of Library staff – we will be pleased to assist.

• Contact your subject librarian – you may like to make an appointment for individual assistance. See:

http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/collections/librarians• Contact your presenter

catherine.dockerty@ouls.ox.ac.uk

Sign up for another WISER session if you found this one useful:http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/information_skills/