SUMSearch - More Details

SUMSearch first formats your query:

1. You can truncate with either $ or * and SUMSearch will use the correct character for each resources.
2. Punctuate marks are inconsistently handled by resources. Thus SUMSearch:
   a. Removes apostrophe-s and replaces with "*".
   Example, Parkinson's becomes Parkinson*.
3. Databases handle complex searches (those including both 'and' and 'or') differently. SUMSearch tried to correct this; however, be careful. SUMSearch adds parentheses from left to right.
4. SUMSearch will correct common abbreviations and common terms that are hard to search on common databases. For example:
   SUMSearch changes DVT to deep vein thrombosis.
   SUMSearch changes "heart failure" to "(heart failure or ventricular)". This change may seem obscure, but it greatly effects MEDLINE.
5. Special formatting for PubMed:
   • PubMed has does not fully search adjacent word combinations such as "Chinese Herbal". Thus SUMSearch automatically inserts "AND" between textword.
   • PubMed excludes MeSH searching from the 'All fields' (default) search if a word is truncated (to demonstrate this, try searching PubMed for steroid and then for steroid*. The truncated term paradoxically gives less articles). Thus, SUMSearch forces PubMed to search each term as a MeSH term and a text word.
   • PubMed incorrectly maps some two word terms
     • Heart failure does not map correctly (try search PubMed for meta-anlayses of heart failure - you will get zero articles).
     • SUMSearch uses a thesaurus to correct these terms.
6. Special formatting for the National Guidelines Clearinghouse:
   National Guidelines Clearinghouse seems to combine MeSH term searching with full text searching. This causes retrieval of guidelines that incidentally mentioned your search term somewhere - anywhere - with the guideline. I have not found a solution to this problem. However, as guidelines are returned in order of relevance, this problem is not critical.
7. Special formatting for Bedside Diagnosis:
   Bedside Diagnosis searches every word in your query. Thus SUMSearch removes 'and' and 'or' from your search. SUMSearch then asks Bedside diagnosis to find all words. This modification made 6/24/99.

SUMSearch always searches the following resources:
1. Textbook. The default textbook to search is the Merck Manual. This only currently the only free access medical textbook on the Internet. It is currently offline until summer 1999 while a new edition is prepared.

Condition	Alternative textbook
search contains the words 'HIV' or 'AIDS' or 'acquired immunodeficiency'	AIDS Knowledge Base
prevention/screening focus button is clicked	Canadian Taskforce on Preventive Health Care

2. MEDLINE for review articles and editorials from high quality, general medical journals that have full texts available. This list reflects SUMSearch's current emphasis on Internal Medicine. A pediatric list could be substituted when the child limit is requested. This enhancement has not been done.
Currently, the medical journals:

Journal Name:	Dates:	Access:
Annals of Internal Medicine	January, 1999	Subscription
Archives of Internal Medicine	July, 2000	Subscription
British Medical Journal	July, 1997	Free!!
JAMA	July, 2000	Subscription
Journal of General Internal Medicine	July, 1997	Subscription
Lancet	...	Subscription
New England Journal of Medicine	July, 1995	Subscription

3. National Guideline Clearinghouse from the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR)
4. Database of Abstract of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE), which includes abstracts of Cochrane reviews and protocols
5. MEDLINE for original research.
Depending of the focus requested SUMSearch will search PubMed with the highest sensitivity filters developed by Haynes et al.

SUMSearch will add the following searches depending on the focus requested.
1. If the focus is physical examination, SUMSearch will search Bedside Diagnosis with two strategies:
    Search for "all words" in the user's query. If no hits are found, then:
    Search for "any words" in the user's query.
2. If the focus is "Adverse effects", SUMSearch searches the Food and Drug Administration with two strategies:
    Search for all documents. If too many hits are found, then:
    Limit to "Dear Health Care Professional" Letters

SUMSearch will add the following search and suggestions depending on the results of the standard search.

1. If the National Guidelines Clearinghouse returns 10 or less citations, SUMSearch will search MEDLINE with a filter for additional practice guidelines.
2. If DARE returns 10 or less citations, SUMSearch will search MEDLINE with a filter for additional systematic reviews.
3. If the MEDLINE search for original research returns over 100 citations, SUMSearch will try in succession, until less than 100 articles are returned (if possible):
    a. Limit search to last 10 years.
    b. Changes more specific filters.
    c. Adds the Abridged Index Medicus Limit (jsubseta).
    d. Restricts topic search to MeSH Major Terms and title words.
3. If the MEDLINE search for original research returns 20 or less citations, SUMSearch will add a link that the user can click that will take the user to Medical Word Search. Medical Word Search searches PubMed with a metathesaurus that adds to the user's query all the synonyms of their terms.

SUMSearch will build links to additional practice guidelines depending on your search query.
For example:
  If the query includes the word fragments 'screen' or 'prevent', a link will be built and provided to search the Canadian Task Force for Preventive Services.

If your search fails...

Lastly, if your search finds less than 20 articles on PubMed, SUMSearch will analyze each search term and make suggestions on improving your terms. The suggestions are based on:

• Use of 'and' and 'or'


• How many articles each search term finds on PubMed
• How many words are used in each search term (more than two words per search term may increase search failures as these words may not always be adjacent in abstracts of articles. (Added 6/12/99)