This Step-by-Step guide is an introductory tutorial on searching the OVID databases. 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:
Books@Ovid |
Science Journals@Ovid |
AMED |
BIOSIS PREVIEWS & Biological Abstracts |
CAB Abstracts |
CINAHL |
Econlit |
GeoRef |
ICONDA |
International Pharmaceutical Abstracts |
Medline |
Mental Measurements Yearbook |
Petroleum Abstracts TULSA |
PsycINFO |
PsycARTICLES |
Social Work Abstracts |
SPORTDiscus |
Ulrich's International Periodical Directory |
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In this guide we take a simple research topic, and guide you through the steps of searching, saving, emailing, 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 subject headings
Step 3 - Searching the database using keywords
Step 4 - Viewing and marking results
Step 5 - Saving, emailing or exporting your references into EndNote
Step 6 - Locating your references in the Library
Step 7 - 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 icon 
from the main search page, then choose the databases you want, click on 
and all the databases will be searched simultaneously. The name of the databases will always display at the top of the main search page.
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 your database, click on continue and then 
and your existing search will be re-run without having to re-type your keywords.
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
Subject headings are words or phrases assigned to articles which determine the correct headings as indexed within a specific database. These terms describe the key concepts and by using them you will be able to make your search results more precise. The OVID databases that offer this feature include AMED, BIOSIS PREVIEWS/Biological Abstracts, CAB Abstracts, CINAHL, GeoRef, Medline, Petroleum Abstracts TULSA, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus. Each database uses its own set of subject headings (or controlled thesaurus), 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.
e.g. CANCER maps to NEOPLASMS (Medline)
On the Mapping Display page select the subject heading you require by ticking the box. If you select more than one subject heading use the Combine selections with: option and choose AND or OR and 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.
Once you have selected your database and logged in you will be in the main search page and the name of database will appear across the top of the screen. All of the Ovid databases will look like this. If you are using Medline uncheck the Map Term to Subject Heading box.
You will notice that this screen has a number of icons across the top of the page, a Search History box and a Keyword search box.
The default search option is Keywords. This will search for your terms across the whole record (including the abstract). If you were to enter the same search terms using the Title icon, the computer would only search for these terms in the titles of journal articles.
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.
In this tutorial we will be searching for journal articles on this sample assignment topic:
"Discuss the effects of diet on cardiovascular disease in Australia" within the CINAHL database.
Click in the Enter Keyword or Phrase box and type in the keywords for your first concept: diet$ or nutrition. Then select the Search button. Results are displayed in the Search History box.
Repeat step 1 with any additional concepts you have. In this example our additional concepts are cardiovascular or heart disease, then australia$. By performing these 3 separate searches you will now have 3 sets of results in your 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. These options are displayed in the Limits area at the bottom of the screen (underneath the Enter Keyword or Phrase box). You will need to set your limits before performing your search. A common choice would be to limit by year of publication and/or by full text:
Viewing results
Lets look at our combined search result which includes all three concepts. Click on the Display button next to set 4 to view this. A list of citations will display.
Click on the Abstract link for one citation. This is located to the right of the article information. You can now read a summary of the article to help you decide if it is useful:
Click on the 'Find it' link to check if there is 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.
Click on the 
button at the top of the screen to return to the list of citations.
Click on the 
button at the top of the screen to return to the search history box to view citations from other searches.
Marking results
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:
Under the heading Results, click the Selected Results button.
Then in Fields choose what you wish to view, for instance Citation + Abstract.
Now click on the Actions: Display button to the right of the screen. Your marked documents will be redisplayed with the citation and abstract in one list.
Once marked and viewed, these articles form a new set in your search history (i.e. set 5). Click the Main Search Page button to find the new set you have created.
Saving
Insert a floppy disk into drive A\: of your computer.
Click on the Display button of the new set you created (Set 5) to display your marked references.
From the Display screen, scroll down to the Results Manager. Make the relevant selections in the Results Manager fields as follows:
Select your computer type (Windows or Macintosh) and decide if you wish to include your search strategy (search steps). Some lecturers ask for this. Mark the Include Search Strategy box if you do. Click the Continue button.
Ensure your A: drive is selected and then rename the File Name with a .txt extension, e.g. Health.txt
Click on the Save button.
Your records have been saved onto your disk.
Emailing
You may want to email your results to yourself rather than saving to disk. To email results use the following steps:
First choose the fields you wish to email from the Results Manager. Select from the Results area and the Fields area.
Click on the Actions: Email button at the right of the screen.
Type your email address into the To: box
Mark the Include Search History box if you would like this included in the email.
Click on Send Email button at the top of the screen.
A message will appear saying your record has been mailed.
Click on the Main Search Page button and this will return you to your search.
To clear searches in the search history box select the Delete Searches 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.
Now you have some journal references, the next step is to find the articles in the Library.
Exporting your References into EndNote
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.
From the Display screen, scroll down to the Results Manager. Make the relevant selections in the Results Manager fields as follows:
You will be asked to select a library within Endnote, highlight the one you want and open.
You will now be able to view your references in EndNote. At this point you must make sure that all of the details have been transferred across correctly. If not you will need to open the reference and make any corrections.
If you require further information on EndNote click here.
When searching the Curtin Library's catalogue you can only search for articles by the journal title, not the title of the article.
To find a journal in the Curtin Library catalogue, use the following steps:
From the Library home page click on the Catalogue link.
On the Basic search screen, select Title.
In the Search Box type in the exact title of the journal (e.g. Australian Journal of Nutrition & Dietetics). Click the Find button.
An alphabetical list of titles will appear - click on the underlined name of the journal.
You can access the catalogue from outside the Library through the library home page, by clicking on Find Information or from within the Library by using the dedicated catalogue terminals. If you have the exact title of the journal, you can search the Journals Collection or the Total Catalogue by Title. If you only have a title abbreviation and can't determine the full name of the journal, you can ask a librarian for help.
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 Save Search/Alert icon under the search history box.
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.
Click on Save Search/Alert.
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 Saved Searches/Alerts under the search history box. You can delete or run your search strategies from this screen.
Deciding on search terms
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 databases on your own topics. If you need more help with information searching on Ovid or other databases please contact the Library Enquiries Desk.
