MEDLINE on Aries Knowledge Server Aries Knowledge Server uses a natural language, probability-based
"fuzzy logic" search engine to search databases, but it also allows Boolean searches.
Presently there are stations (all 
Macintosh computers) located throughout the UMKC School of
Medicine: in the Health Sciences Library, in the Technical Learning Center (TLC) on the third floor, in each of the
seminar rooms in the docents' units. The files available for searching on these stations
are the most recent ten years of the clinical medicine core journals in MEDLINE and the
most recent ten years of the nursing journals subset of MEDLINE. These files are
updated quarterly.
You may search for subjects in two ways: by free-form topic (keywords) or by MeSH (Medical Subject Headings--index terms used by NLM to index medical literature).
Free-form topic searching works well for distinctive, single-word terms (e.g., gastroparesis) or for acronyms (e.g., ISIS-3). MeSH terms provide a more focused search and more relevant results, especially when using a multi-word term (e.g., renal cell carcinoma). You can also do a mixed search, with some terms from the MeSH thesaurus and some terms typed into the free-form box (e.g., +coronary arteriosclerosis as MeSH term and "premature" as free-form search). Aries Knowledge Server now allows the use of the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT. You must select "Boolean search" in the Search Controls window.
For a free-form topic search, type your keywords and either press the enter key or click on the runner icon. While the stop sign icon is on screen, your search is being processed. Please wait. To cancel the search click the mouse on the stop sign icon.
For a MeSH search, click on the MeSH Thesaurus button. Type the term you want, or part of the term. (E.g., if you type "anemia" the computer will show you all the MeSH terms about anemia.) If you want "anemia, sickle cell" scroll to that term by clicking on the down arrow,then click on that term.
Then you must tell the computer how to use that term. Usually you will select (click on) the "Use Only" button. If you are searching for several terms, select "Try to Use" for the less important terms. If you want to exclude a term, select "Do not use." (As in: allopurinol/use only and gout/do not use, for a search for articles about the uses of allopurinol other than for gout treatment.)
Once you have selected a MeSH term, you may attach a subheading to it if you wish. Click on the subheadings button. Click on the term to which you wish to add a subheading. Click on the subheading(s) you wish to attach, then click on the combine button. Use subheadings sparingly and selectively for best results.
If you aren't sure of the use of a MeSH term, you may doubleclick on the term to open a window containing its definition, scope note, history and context (broader, narrower, and related terms).
Select as many MeSH terms as you need for your search, then click on Done to return to the search screen. Your terms will appear there. You may delete or add to the free-form terms, and you may click on the MeSH terms and then on one of the buttons at the bottom of the search screen to remove the term or to change its value in the search.
Selecting the best subject terms can be the most difficult part of a database search. A librarian may be able to suggest additional subject terms or strategies.
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Click on the Author Name(s) button. In the window that appears, type the last name of your author. A list of authors with that last name will appear. Scroll through the list to the author with the correct initials (all MEDLINE authors are listed by last name and initials) and select that name, then click on the "Use Only Documents with this name" button. Click on "Done" to return to the search screen, then select additional search terms or run the search by clicking on the running man icon or pressing the Enter key.
Your search may produce hundreds, or thousands, of citations. To reduce the number of citations to a more manageable number, you may limit the search in several ways.
If you are looking for a particular specific article from the journal CHEST on, say, hypertension, a search for the subject "hypertension" may be limited to the those articles that were published in the journal CHEST by clicking on the Journals button, typing CHEST in the resulting window, and selecting CHEST from the list of journals which appears. Then choose (click on) the "Use Only" button, and return to the search screen (click on "Done") and run the search with the subject term "hypertension" and the journal term "CHEST." You will get a much smaller number of citations to sort through.
If you are searching the Medical Core Journal file, there is no need to limit your search to ENGLISH (by clicking on the English box in the bottom left corner of the search screen) but if you are searching the Nursing Journal file, selecting English is advised. Non-English articles are indicated by brackets around the (translated) title.
It is often useful to limit your search to Reviews, by clicking on the Reviews box in the bottom left corner of the search screen. You may also limit your search to other publication types by pulling down the Dictionaries menu from the menu bar across the top of the search screen. Drag down to the Publication Type selection, then scroll through the publication types to select the one(s) you wish to choose. You may wish to select Guidelines or Practice Guidelines or Consensus Development Conference or Consensus Development Conference, NIH to find authoritative recommendations for the management of hypertensive patients. You may wish to select tutorial reviews for a basic overview of your subject; these are particularly useful for year 3 students, or for patients who are motivated to read the medical literature.
Check tags may also be used to limit a search, but routine use of them may needlessly slow the search. However, if you are searching a subject like "mechanical ventilation" and find that you are getting way too many dog studies, you may wish to click on the Check Tags button. You may select "human" and "Use Only" or you may select "animal" and "Do Not Use." Selecting "human" and "Use Only" will limit your search of mechanical ventilation to articles that studied humans (but may also have reported on dog studies), while selecting "animal" and "Do Not Use" will exclude all articles that reported on animals, even if they also reported on humans. Other useful check tags include "male" and "female;" these tags may apply to humans or to animals.
For additional advice about limiting search results to the most relevant and useful citations, consult your librarian.
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When you run a search, up to 100 citations will be displayed in summary form on your screen. Click on the up and down arrows to scroll up and down the list. You will see a brief citation with the article title and source information. The source information will tell you where to find the actual article; the full text of the article is not on the computer. The source information tells you the title of the journal (which may be abbreviated) the date of the issue, the volume number, the issue number, and the page number(s). For example: Ann Intern Med, Nov 1 1993, 119(9) p874-81
To see a more detailed citation, including the abstract (if there is one), doubleclick on the citation. The screen which appears will reveal the authors, the MeSH terms used to index the article, the Unique Identifier (very useful for requesting Interlibrary Loans), and other information. You may proceed through your list of citations by clicking on the "Next Document" arrow in the upper right corner, or you may return to the list of brief citations by clicking on "Done" in the bottom right corner.
To Print Citations:
* To click on an icon or citation--use mouse to move cursor arrow to the icon or citation you wish to select, then press the button on the mouse once. To double-click means to press the button on the mouse twice rapidly. Click on arrows to scroll up and down displays.
** To drag down--use mouse to move cursor arrow to a selection from the menu bar (across the top of the screen). Hold down the mouse button. A menu will drop down. Continue holding the mouse button and move the cursor down the menu to your selection. When your selection is highlighted, release the button.
To Save File/Downloading
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PROBLEM: HELP! I CAN'T FIND ANYTHING ON RESIDENCY AND INTERNSHIP!
SOLUTION: Change file from nursing to medical core journals.
EXPLANATION: Nursing theory, touch therapy, and other subjects
of specific interest to nurses are not well covered in the medical
journals file. Pharmacy and life science subjects are better covered
in the medical journals file than in nursing, but the medical file is
primarily devoted to physicians and CLINICAL medicine. Computers in
health care and health care reform are addressed in both files.
To Change Files:
Drag down FILE menu to SELECT DATABASE, which will reveal a second menu
(of available databases). Continue to drag down mouse until cursor is on
the database you wish to search and release the mouse button.
Available databases are:
PROBLEM: I SAVED MY CITATIONS BUT NOW THEY WON'T PRINT!
SOLUTION: Drag down Documents menu from menu bar at top
of screen and select "Copy save file to print list."
EXPLANATION: You "save" to a disk, but put citations to be
printed on the "print list" icon. If you wish to save
to a disk, bring in your own disk and follow the printed
instructions attached to the Health Sciences Library terminals.
PROBLEM: HELP! I WAS SCROLLING THROUGH MY CITATIONS AND
THEY DISAPPEARED!
SOLUTION: Drag down Documents menu from the menu bar at top
of screen and select "View summaries."
EXPLANATION: While scrolling, you moved the cursor beyond the
down arrow to the lower margin of the Knowledge Server
window, which caused the citations to disappear.
PROBLEM: THERE OUGHT TO BE MORE ARTICLES THAN THIS ON MY
SUBJECT.
SOLUTION(S):
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Report problems with the Health Science Library stations to the library staff. Report problems with the other stations in the Medical School to the Evaluation and Computer Resources department, 235-1895.
The Clinical Medical Librarians in the School of Medicine will be glad to work with you to help you find the information you need. CMLs are available in person (Room M2.202), by phone (235-1874, 235-1875, 235-1876), by mail or email.
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Return to the Database Search Instructions page.
Return to the UMKC School of Medicine CML's Information Resource Page.