Which MEDLINE do I use?
Ovid MEDLINE and PubMed Compared
The National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE database is available from many sources. The two primary ways to access MEDLINE at Dartmouth/DHMC are Ovid and PubMed. Each one has merits and drawbacks; the important thing is to become comfortable with one of them. If you are fresh to MEDLINE, we recommend PubMed.
Here are some comparisons:
Compare |
Ovid MEDLINE |
PubMed |
| Content |
Two files with MEDLINE are available. Complete Ovid MEDLINE covers 1946 to present and includes fully-indexed records as well as in-process and other non-indexed citations. Because in process citations are merged with MEDLINE, extremely recent articles are included, though without quality control or indexing. Ovid MEDLINE covers 1996-present and only includes citations fully indexed for MEDLINE. |
Includes in one file: MEDLINE, citations in process, pre-1966 citations, and non-MEDLINE citations from journals selectively indexed. Because in process citations are merged with MEDLINE, extremely recent articles are included, though without quality control or indexing. |
| Update Frequency | Citations are added daily. Updating is suspended during the National Library of Medicine's annual revision of MEDLINE. Ovid's resumption of updating is delayed longer than PubMed's as they must reprocess the data. |
Updated daily. Updating is suspended during the National Library of Medicine's annual revision of MEDLINE. |
| Other Databases | The same search interface is available for Journals@Ovid (full-text journals) and Books@Ovid (ebooks). Searches may be run again in different databases, and multiple files may be searched at one time, but results may be problematic due to the database structures. |
Integrated with other genetics information databases from NCBI, including BLAST, GenBank, and OMIM. |
| Links to Full-text and Local Availability of Journals |
If it appears, click on "Ovid Full Text" to go directly to full text from Journals@Ovid. Use the "Get It" link to bring up a window that provides links to the full-text of the article, if available, links to the Library Catalog to check Dartmouth holdings, and a link to submit a request to DartDoc, Dartmouth's document delivery service. |
Links are available to full-text articles in journals licensed for Dartmouth/DHMC. Links appear as green buttons saying "Dartmouth Full Text" in the Abstract display. If the “Dartmouth Full Text” button doesn’t appear, use the "Article Linker" link to bring up a window that provides links to the full-text of the article, if available, links to the Library Catalog to check Dartmouth holdings, and a link to submit a request to DartDoc, Dartmouth's document delivery service. To see the links, you must use a special PubMed url or have a MyNCBI account set up with Dartmouth preferences. |
| Requesting Copies of Articles | Users may request copies of articles by clicking on "Get Full Text" and then submitting a DartDoc request in Step 3 of the newly opened window. Citation information is then automatically sent to the Biomedical Libraries Document Delivery service. See Requesting Articles with Ovid and DartDoc for more explanation. |
Users may request copies of articles by clicking on "Article Linker" and then submitting a DartDoc request in the newly opened window. Citation information is automatically sent to the Biomedical Libraries Document Delivery service. See How to Get the Full-Text of an Article from a PubMed Search for more explanation. |
| Translation of Query | Maps query to Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and presents appropriate headings from which to choose. User has control over which headings are used. User may also search by keyword. Search History box shows how the query was translated and searched. |
Automatically formulates a search strategy from the query. Finds articles with matching MeSH headings or journal titles or with the words in article titles or abstracts. See the "Search Details" box to see how PubMed translated the query. Users may also use the "MeSH Database" to be guided through selection of appropriate MeSH headings. The MeSH Database is found in the "Resources" menu at the top left, under "Literature." |
| Saving Search Strategies | User can save a search strategy for future use. Strategies are saved in individual accounts and are accessible only by that user. They are available to the user from any computer. | User can save a search strategy for future use. Users may register for a "MyNCBI" account. Search strategies may then be stored and are available only by that user and from any computer. |
| Automatic Updates of Search Strategies | Saved search strategies may be saved as "AutoAlerts" which are run automatically when the database is updated. Users are sent emails with the results. | Saved search strategies may be run on a schedule designated by the user in "MyNCBI." Users are sent emails with the results. |
| Explode - to include more specific terms along with a broader term. | The user decides whether to explode MeSH headings. The explode option is checked as the default choice. | MeSH headings are automatically exploded. Use the MeSH Database feature to choose MeSH terms without exploding. |
| Subheadings | Available subheadings are presented to the user. | Users may select subheadings by using the MeSh Database. |
| Limits | The most common limits may be applied on the main search page. More limiting options are available under "Additional Limits." | Limits may be applied by using the "Filters" at the left. Limits/filters remain on for all following searches unless turned off, with the exception of Related Citations searches which do not invoke the selected filters. |
| Combining Sets | The Search History box lists all the search sets created. They may be combined with AND, OR, or NOT. The operators do not need to be capitalized. | Search sets may found under "History" on the Advanced Search Builder page. They may be combined with AND, OR, or NOT. Use # before the set number and capitalize the operator if typing manually in the search box.
Recent searches are also shown under "Recent Activity" in the right column. |
| Emailing citations | Citations may be emailed to one or more people through use of the Results Manager. | Citations may be emailed to one address at a time through the "Send to" feature. |
| Citation Verification | "Find Citation" can be found as a tab on the main Search Page. | "Single Citation Matcher" can be found under "More Resources" on the Advanced Search Builder page. |
| Finding Related Articles | "Find Similar" is a link available with each citation. Similarity is determined by citations having related words and synonyms in their titles. | "Related Articles" is a link available in each citation. A set is created using an algorithm based on comparing words in the title, abstract, and MeSH terms. Citations are displayed in rank order beginning with the most relevant. |
| Evidence Based Medicine | The Biomedical Libraries have created "Expert Searches" which can be run and then combined with a topic of interest. The Expert Searches help focus the search to high-quality articles on diagnosis, therapy, etiology, and prognosis. Expert Searches may be found by clicking on "Saved Searches/Alerts" on the Main Search Page. | Offers "Clinical Queries" feature which filters studies on therapy, diagnosis, etiology, and prognosis for sensitivity or specificity.
"Clinical Queries" is found under "More Resources" on the Advanced Search Builder page. |
| Search Guides and Help Files | Online search manual is available by clicking on "Help." "Ask A Dartmouth Librarian" link is available to request help on a specific search from the Biomedical Libraries Reference Librarians. Guides, tutorials, and other help may be found on the Biomedical Libraries Web under, "Ovid Guides, Tips, and Help." |
Online search manual is available by clicking on "Help." Guides, tutorials, and other help may be found on the Biomedical Libraries Web under, "Pubmed Guides, Tips, and Help." |