What is the difference between subject oriented search and boolean search

In this case scenario:. Patients P — What is the important group of patients? Intervention I — What is the important intervention? Comparison C — What is the important intervention of comparison? Outcome O — What is the effect of intervention? Time T — Time interval for measuring the outcome: Hourly for first 4 h then 4 hourly till 24 h post-procedure. Multiple questions can be formulated from patient's problem and concern.

A well-focused question should be chosen for research according to significance for patient interest and relevance to our knowledge. Good research questions address the lacunae in available literature with an aim to impact the clinical practice in a constructive manner.

There are limited outcome research and relevant resources, for example, electronic database system, database and hospital information system in India. Even when these factors are available, data about existing resources is not widely accessible. Primary sources are the authentic publication of an expert's new evidence, conclusions and proposals case reports, clinical trials, etc and are usually published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Preliminary reports, congress papers and preprints also constitute primary literature. Secondary sources are systematic review articles or meta-analyses where material derived from primary source literature are infererred and evaluated. Tertiary literature consists of collections that compile information from primary or secondary literature eg.

There are various methods of literature search that are used alone or in combination [ Table 1 ]. For past few decades, searching the local as well as national library for books, journals, etc. The various databases available for literature search include databases for original published articles in the journals [ Table 2 ] and evidence-based databases for integrated information available as systematic reviews and abstracts [ Table 3 ].

Links to the full-text material are included in citations from PubMed Central and publisher web sites. Education Resources Information Centre is a free online digital library of education research and information sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.

No one database can search all the medical literature. There is need to search several different databases. When searching these databases, emphasis should be given to meta-analysis, systematic reviews randomised controlled trials and landmark studies. Time allocated to the search needs attention as exploring and selecting data are early steps in the research method and research conducted as part of academic assessment have narrow timeframes.

This results in the formulation of the inappropriate research question and increases the time to literature search. Type of search can be described in different forms according to the subject of interest. It increases the chances of retrieving relevant information from a search.

This will provide results based on any of the words specified; hence, they are the cornerstone of an effective search. Spellings should also be taken into account, i. Most databases use controlled word-stock to establish common search terms or keywords. Some of these alternative keywords can be looked from database thesaurus.

It is important to keep a note of keywords and methods used in exploring the literature as these will need to be described later in the design of search process.

For example, if the search keyword is heart attack, this term will match with MeSH transcription table heading and then explode into various subheadings. This helps to construct the search by adding and selecting MeSH subheadings and families of MeSH by use of hyperlinks. We can set limits to a clinical trial for retrieving higher level of evidence i.

This PubMed feature searches for similar citations using an intricate algorithm that scans titles, abstracts and MeSH terms. This will provide pages with only the words typed in the phrase, in that exact order and with no words in between them.

The Boolean operator - AND - intersects concept sets, returning search results that reflect articles which address both concepts. If AND is used, then any article which addresses only one concept will not be included in the search results. The Boolean operator - OR - unifies concept sets, returning search results that include articles if at least one concept is present.

The Boolean operator - OR - will always expand search results. The Boolean operator - NOT - will exclude articles if the NOT concept is present - do not use the NOT operator without giving it great thought because it is easy to "throw the baby out with the bath water" - in other words, to inadvertently discard articles you may want to look at because the NOT concept term is incidentally present and mixed in with concepts you do want to retrieve. Background questions are concerned with general information about a condition or disease or topic - causes, symptoms, progression, accepted treatments, outcomes, prevention.

For patient-centered questions, these contexts or specific patient characteristics may include comorbidities, demographics, life-cyle stages, life-style, environment, genetic background, epigenetic factors, psychological, sociological, behavioral, economic, anthropological, health delivery context, etc.

These question can either be simple or complex, but the focus and application of the answer is the defining feature. As personalized medicine and the development of epigenetic information grows, these foreground questions may become more complex. Similarly, problem-centered questions may include elements, which are quite specific to a situation.

For example. A further example of a patient safety question might concern identifying the kinds of preanalytic errors that occur in the context of blood collection for blood culturing and inquiring whether labs that utilize a hemolysis index in testing improve their rate of error. The P. Keyword vs. Subject Searches Keyword searches look for your search terms anywhere in the record -- e. What to Look For To find subject headings for your topic: Look to see if the database has an online thesaurus to browse for subjects that match your topic check the Help screens.

Some databases publish thesauri in print e. Ask Us for help using thesauri. Browse the results; choose 2 or 3 that are relevant. Look at the Subject or Descriptor field and note the terms used write them down. Redo your search using those terms. Your results will be more precise than your initial keyword search.

You will also want to decide what other fields may be valuable for your search. Boolean searching is one of the basic and best search strategies that is used by most online databases. For more help with search strategies see Search Strategies section. It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results. Research Process: Research Databases This tutorial aims to help develop effective library research skills and critical thinking skills in all courses at Prince George's Community College.