This Step-by-Step guide is an introductory tutorial on searching the OVID databases on the Ovid SP Platform. The Library provides access to a number of databases on the OVID gateway covering the fields of Science, Medicine, Allied Health, Psychology, Economics, Geology, Horticulture and Building Construction.
These databases are listed below:
| Anatomy.TV |
CAB Abstracts |
Iowa Drug Information Service (IDIS) | PsychINFO |
| AGRICOLA |
Econlit | International Pharmaceutical Abstracts |
Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine (EMBASE) |
| AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine) | GeoRef |
Journals@Ovid Full Text | Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine (EMBASE) |
| AGRIS | GeoRef's Serials |
Medline | Tropag & Rural Database |
| Biological Abstracts | Global Health | Mental Measurements Yearbook | |
| Books@Ovid |
ICONDA |
Petroleum Abstracts TULSA Database |
In this guide we take you through the steps of searching, saving, emailing and exporting your references into EndNote.
The tutorial should take you about 30 minutes to complete. You may prefer to print this tutorial so you can refer to a printed copy while you are working online, or you can open another session or page online.
We suggest you print this tutorial now. It is about 8 pages long.
This guide is divided into the following steps:
Step 1 - Getting started
Step 2 - Searching the database using Basic Search
Step 3 - Searching the database using Advanced Ovid Search
Step 4 - Additional search functions
Step 4 - Viewing and marking results
Step 5 - Saving, emailing or exporting your references into EndNote
Step 6 - Setting up alerts
Help with Search Strategies
Navigate your way to your chosen OVID database by accessing the Databases A-Z link on the Library Homepage. You will need to enter your Curtin ID and Password. OVID allows single or multiple database searching. To search multiple databases once you are logged into any OVID database select the Change Database 
icon from the main search page, then choose the databases you want, hold the control key to select more than one database. The name of the database is always displayed to the right of the search pane within the search box 
.
After completing a single search in one database it is possible to re-run the same search in another database. To do this select the Change Database icon, select the database, click on Open Selected Resources and then on Open & Re-Execute and your existing search will be re-run without having to re-type your keywords. If you wanted to change database but conduct a different search then you can follow the same procedure as above but choose the Open & Clear button.
For more information about any of the OVID databases click on the
button.
You can also access all of the Ovid databases via Gecko: Gateway to Library Databases
Once you have selected your database and logged in you will be in the main search page and the name of the database will appear across the top of the search box .
Basic Search is the default search page when you first log into any Ovid database. This search accepts Natural Language (ordinary English).
To search you simply type in the question or phrase e.g.
"How can institutionalised care be improved for dementia patients in Australia?"
Tick the Include Related Terms box as shown 
which will find all related terms within the Ovid thesaurus then click the Search button.
Basic search will always retrieve around 500 results and these are ranked by relevancy. Relevancy is indicated by a star rating.
If you have a large number of results you can either choose to look through all these items or limit them further to make a more manageable number. These options are displayed in the Limits or Additional Limits in the search box. You can apply limits either before or after performing your search.
Advanced OVID search offers the following search types:
The default search option is Keywords. This will search for your terms across the whole record (including the abstract).
The keyword search also provides the option to Map Term to Subject Heading. This will force the search to use the subject headings or controlled thesaurus within each database. The OVID databases that offer this feature include Agris, Agricola, AMED,Biological Abstracts, CAB Abstracts, GeoRef, Global Health, ICONDA, Iowa Drug Info Services, Medline, Petroleum Abstracts TULSA, PsycINFO, Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine (EMBASE), Tropag & Rural Database. Each database uses its own set of subject headings, for example Medline uses MeSH Subject Headings.
The Medline database will default to this option:
For all the other databases listed above you will need to tick this box.
If you are using Map Term to Subject Heading, enter your keyword or phrase in the search box and click on search. The OVID software will automatically map (or match) your words to a range of appropriate subject headings.
e.g. CANCER maps to NEOPLASMS (Medline)
NERVOUS BREAKDOWN maps to MENTAL DISORDERS (PsycINFO)
On the Mapping Display page select the subject heading you require by ticking the box. If you select more than one subject heading use Combine selections with choosing either AND or OR. Then click on continue.
If you have used a term that is already a subject heading this will be selected for you. In some of the databases you will be then be offered a list of Subheadings to choose from, select the ones you require and click on continue.
To search for journal articles on the sample assignment topic within the Medline databases follow the steps below:
"What is the relationship between chewing tobacco and cancer of the mouth? "
box and type in the keywords for your first concept: chewing tobacco. Tick Map Term to Subject Heading then select the Search button. Your search term will be mapped to Tobacco, Smokeless. When you click on continue you will be offered a list of Subheadings. Either tick Include All Subheadings or select the ones you require. Results are displayed in the Search History box. 
If you have a large number of results you can either choose to look through all these items or limit them further to make a more manageable number. (See Step 2)
For detailed help on effective ways to construct your search strategy using boolean logic (AND/OR alternatives) and truncation or wildcards, go to Help with Search Strategies at the end of this guide.
To clear searches in the search history box select the Remove Selected button and then select what you wish to delete. Deleted searches can not be recovered.
When you have finished searching the database, click on Logoff at the top right hand corner of the screen.
OvidSP's Find Citation tab lets you submit fielded data, such as author, article titles and so on, to retrieve specific journal article citations. Fill in as many fields in the form as you can and then click the Search button.
Apply fields to a search statement (or field a search) and restrict OvidSP's search to only the text of the fields indicated. Check the box(es) of field(s) from which you want to restrict your search.
Type a term or phrase in the text box and then click the Search button.
For example in PsycINFO database you can use Search Fields to limit a search to test and measures.
Allows you to search for several topics simultaneously and to choose which fields you would like to search e.g. author, title etc.
Click on the Display button or scroll down to view results. A list of citations will display.
Click on the View Abstract button to view the abstract within the record.
Click on the 'Find it' 
link to check if there is online access to the full text of the article in another database or to check the Curtin Library catalogue. For more information please refer to our Find It FAQ. Once you have finished using Find it click on Previous Page link at the top of the screen to return to the Search Results. Click on the Main Search Page link at the top of the screen to return to the search history box to view citations from other searches.
While you are viewing your results, you might want to select (or mark) individual records. You can do this by following these steps:
Click in the box on the left hand side of the record/s you wish to save. A tick will appear.
Repeat this process to select as many references as you want.
Once you have finished viewing the records and marking the ones you want, you can display only these marked records. To do this scroll to the bottom of the page and find the Results Manager. The Results Manager enables you to choose how you view your records.
.. to the right of the screen. Your marked documents will be redisplayed with the citation and abstract in one list.
To email results use the following steps:
You may want to export your references directly into EndNote. To do this follow the steps below:
NB: To be able to do this you will need to have the Endnote software loaded onto your computer.
Further information on EndNote
In Ovid databases you can create your own personal account to store your saved searches and set up auto alerts. Auto alerts will re-run your saved search when the particular database is updated and email you any new articles that are found using your search strategy.
To create a personal account you need to use the following steps:
Click on the Saved Searches/Alerts link in the top right of the screen.
Click on Create a new Personal Account.
Fill in the form with a name for your account, password and email address. We suggest that you use your name as your personal account name. Your password can be 6-8 characters in length and include both letters and numbers. The account name and password are both case-sensitive.
Click on Create to save your personal account.
When you return to the main search screen your account name will appear above the search box.
When you open an Ovid database you will be able to log in to your personal account by clicking on the Personal Account button. To make any changes to your account click on the personal account button and select Modify your Personal Account.
To save a search and create auto alerts you need to follow these steps:
Perform a search on your topic.
Choose to save your search as an auto alert, this means that your search is saved permanently and when the database is updated any new articles that match your search will be emailed to you.
Give your search a name and fill in all other details including your email address, report type, results format or fields and whether or not you want to include your search strategy. The citation format should be ovid. If you are off campus, select either 'Email includes records only' or 'Email includes records and a titles display link' as your report type.
Click on Save Search.
To view your saved searches click on the Saved Searches/Alerts link in the top right of the screen. You can edit, delete or run your search strategies from this screen.
To decide how to search you must decide what the keywords are for your topic. You will develop your search strategy from these words. For example, in this assignment, you will need to search for articles that discuss all of the main concepts in this topic:
"Discuss the effects of diet on cardiovascular disease in Australia"
What are the main ideas or concepts of this topic?
diet cardiovascular disease Australia
What are some other keywords that describe these same ideas?
nutrition heart disease Australian dietary
How can we use these concepts or keywords in searching?
To get the best results from a database search, you have to follow some rules. Most computerised databases use Boolean logic. This has to do with the way you enter your search. In Boolean logic the words AND/OR have special meanings.
You use the word AND to search for references containing all the search terms.
For example: diet and cardiovascular disease and Australia
You use the word OR if you want to search for references containing either one term or the other.
For example: diet or nutrition
You can use a combination of AND and OR in one search statement, although this is not recommended for beginners.
For example: (diet or nutrition) and (cardiovascular or heart disease)
You can also make use of truncation and wildcards in your search.
Truncation is used to pick up different word endings in your search terms. This is useful because there might be good information about your topic in articles which contain the word diet or diets or dietary.
For example: diet$ will pick up diet and diets and dietary etc.
Wildcards are used to pick up different spellings of words. If you insert a '#' in a word where the variation in spelling applies your search will pick up the different spellings.
For example: immuni#ation will pick up both immunisation and immunization.
For more on this go to InfoTrekk and read Trek 1: Analysing a topic.
Alternatively return to Step 2: Searching the database.
We hope you now feel confident about searching Ovid SP databases on your own topics. If you need more help with information searching on Ovid or other databases please contact the Library Enquiries Desk.
