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Search Hint: Using Proximity Searching to Locate a Complete Journal Citation Online Without Author and Title InformationLibrarians are frequently given incomplete citation information and then asked to obtain full text of the original document. In order to request an article via interlibrary loan, it is necessary to verify the complete citation. One way of doing this is to find the reference online. The simplest way to do this is to use the CONTAINS operator available with proximity searching. This article gives a brief review of CONTAINS and some examples of how to use it for the very specific purpose stated above. For a more detailed review of proximity searching, including the other search operators, ADJACENT and NEAR, see the articles on pages 16-18 of the January-April 1996 issue and pages 1, 8-16 of the January-February 1995 issue of the Technical Bulletin. Alternatively, Part 3 of the [This link was removed because it is no longer valid] Online Services Reference Manual (Searching with ELHILL), available for download at http://www.nlm.nih.gov, covers proximity searching. Or you may issue the command online, $INFO PROXLIST, for a list of the $INFO commands that further explain proximity searching. Definition of CONTAINSCONTAINS provides the capability to scan an existing search set for a word or phrase or numbers. The ability to scan a retrieved set for numbers allows you to look for numbers in the Pagination (PG), Volume Issue (VI), and Issue/Part/Supplement (IP) fields; these fields are not directly searchable. Using the CONTAINS operator is the best way to search these fields. Making Proximity Work For YouProximity operators default to scanning the Title (TI) and Abstract (AB) fields unless otherwise qualified. The examples below involve finding complete information for citations where the titles are unknown, therefore the proximity operators need qualification to indicate which field should be searched. In all cases you will need to search on the Title Abbreviation (TA) or the Journal Title Code (JC). If you don't know the TA or JC for a particular journal, first go into SERLINE and do a Title Field Text Word (TF) search to find the journal title and then give the command PRT INDEX to display the record, including the JC and TA fields. These two fields may be used interchangeably in all of the following search examples. Figures 1, 2, and 3 illustrate situations in which CONTAINS may be used to find full citation information. In order to use proximity searching efficiently (and at a reasonable cost) you will need to know or find some indicator of the year or proximate years for the citation you are seeking. Occasionally, the FL (First/Last Issue) field or General Notes (GN) field in the SERLINE record has information that will allow you to deduce the year of a particular volume. These fields are also displayed with the PRINT INDEX command. Figure 2 illustrates an instance of where the FL field reveals the year of the requested article. If you enter a search statement using the format, TA contains xx (pg), in MEDLINE or a MEDLINE Backfile without limiting to a particular year, you will probably be searching against a very large set of citations. Even if the search is possible (searches resulting in more than 10,000 records when the terms are first combined will not be processed) it will take a long time and generate substantial costs. Also some journals start renumbering with each volume and so you may retrieve more than one citation with a journal title and page match.The data set to the left of CONTAINS should be as specific (and small in number) as possible. A Few Caveats about Journal TitlesIf you are unable to find a match for a particular journal title, year and pagination (or volume or issue) consider looking at other possible choices for the title. For example, if the only information you are given for a title is: Postgrad Med, the actual title might be Postgraduate Medicine (Minneapolis, MN) or it might be Postgraduate Medical Journal (London). In a similar fashion, if a journal has a supplement, and you don't find the citation you are seeking in the journal, it could be in the supplement. The word supplement may appear at the beginning or the end of a journal title. For example, the supplement to the Journal of Cell Biochemistry is titled the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry Supplement but the European Journal of Neuroscience (Oxford) has a separately titled supplement called Supplement ... to the European Journal of Neuroscience (Oxford). And journal supplements may include the letter 's' as part of the pagination. If you don't find a citation in the first place you look, search on all the logical variants for journal title and pagination. ConclusionThe CONTAINS operator incorporates and supersedes the STRINGSEARCH (TS) function. This feature of proximity searching can often allow you to locate a citation quickly and precisely with just journal, year and volume or issue or page information.
Figure 1 - Locating a Citation from Journal Name, Year, Page Number
Information Available: Journal Name, Year, Page Number Search on: Title Abbreviation (TA) AND xx (YR) contains xx (PG)
USER:
file ser
PROG:
YOU ARE NOW CONNECTED TO THE SERLINE FILE.
SS 1 /C?
USER:
(tf) all biochim: and biophysica and acta
PROG:
SS (1) PSTG (6)
SS 2 /C?
USER:
prt ti
PROG:
1
TI - ACTA BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA; ACADEMIAE
SCIENTIARUM HUNGARICAE
2
TI - ACTA BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA HUNGARICA
3
TI - BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA
4
TI - BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA PREVIEWS
5
TI - CHINESE JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOPHYSICS
6
TI - SHENG WU HUA HSUEH YU SHENG WU WU LI HSUEH PAO.
ACTA BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA SINICA
SS 2 /C?
USER:
prt -3 index
PROG:
3
TI - BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA
TA - Biochim Biophys Acta
FL - 1,1947-
PL - AMSTERDAM
CY - NETHERLANDS
LA - ENG
LA - FRE
LA - GER
AI - IM
AI - BA
AI - CXP
AI - CA
AI - MED
GN - AT HEAD OF TITLE: BBA, (JAN. 4 1994)- .
ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB. PUBLISHED
INTERMITTENTLY IN SPECIALIZED SECTIONS.
II - INDEXING FOR ONLINE FILES BEGAN WITH V87N2,1964.
IS - 0006-3002
JC - A0W
JD - BIOCHEMISTRY
JD - BIOPHYSICS
SB - X
SB - M
SX - s
IA - 630531
XS - 1
ZA - 8308011983 723 3 JUN 30
ZA - 8706171987 430 1
ZA - 8903021989
ZA - 9607191995
UI - B15340000
USER:
file med90
PROG:
YOU ARE NOW CONNECTED TO THE BACK90 (1990 - 93) FILE.
SS 1 /C?
USER:
biochim biophys acta (ta) and 93 (yr) contains 207-9(pg)
* Drop redundant page numbers,
207-209 must be searched as 207-9.
If it is searched as 207-209, you
will NOT retrieve the citation.
PROG:
TIME OVFLW: CONT? (Y/N)
USER: You may search on the first page
y number only, but in this journal
you will retrieve more than one
citation because the journal renumbers
the pages with each issue.
PROG:
SS (1) PSTG (1)
SS 2 /C?
USER:
prt
PROG:
1
UI - 94002243
AU - Marc-Martin S
AU - Spielmann A
AU - Stutz E
AU - Schurmann P
TI - Cloning and sequencing of a corn (Zea mays)
nuclear gene coding for the chloroplast
specific catalytic subunit of
ferredoxin-thioredoxin reductase.
SO - Biochim Biophys Acta 1993 Nov 2;1183(1):207-9
Figure 2 - Locating a Citation from Journal Name, Volume, Page Number
Information Available: Journal Name, Volume, Page Number Search on: Journal Title Code (JC) AND xx (YR) contains xx (PG)
SS 1 /C?
USER:
file ser
PROG:
YOU ARE NOW CONNECTED TO THE SERLINE FILE.
SS 1 /C?
USER:
(tf) supramolecular and structure and cell
PROG:
*NONE-
* Try searching on logical truncations
of the title words if your first
attempt retrieves nothing.
SS 1 /C?
USER:
(tf) supramolecular and structure and all cell:
PROG:
SS (1) PSTG (2)
SS 2 /C?
USER:
prt index
PROG:
1
TI - JOURNAL OF SUPRAMOLECULAR STRUCTURE AND CELLULAR
BIOCHEMISTRY
TA - J Supramol Struct Cell Biochem
FL - 15,1981-17N4,1981
* MED80 is the file to
search for Volume 16
PL - NEW YORK NY
CY - UNITED STATES
LA - ENG
AI - IM
AI - BA
AI - EM
AI - CA
AI - MED
GN - CONTINUES: JOURNAL OF SUPRAMOLECULAR STRUCTURE.
SUPPLEMENTS ACCOMPANY SOME VOLS. CONTINUED BY:
JOURNAL OF CELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY.
IS - 0275-3723
JC - J81
* Use the JC for searching,
rather than the lengthy TA.
Be sure to distinguish 1
(number) from l and 0 (zero)
from O.
JD - BIOCHEMISTRY
JD - MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
SB - M
IA - 810618
XS - 4
UI - J39830000
2
TI - JOURNAL OF SUPRAMOLECULAR STRUCTURE AND CELLULAR
BIOCHEMISTRY. SUPPLEMENT
.
.
.
SS 1 /C?
USER:
file med80
PROG:
YOU ARE NOW CONNECTED TO THE BACK80 (1980 - 84) FILE.
SS 1 /C?
USER:
j81 (jc) and 81 (yr) contains 193-207 (pg)
PROG:
SS (1) PSTG (1)
SS 2 /C?
USER:
prt
PROG:
1
UI - 82055636
AU - Lautenberger JA
AU - Schulz RA
AU - Garon CF
AU - Tsichlis PN
AU - Spyropoulos DD
AU - Pry TW
AU - Rushlow KE
AU - Papas TS
TI - The transforming sequences of avian
myelocytomatosis virus (MC29).
SO - J Supramol Struct Cell Biochem 1981;16(2):193-207
Figure 3 - Locating a Citation from Information in the Comment Field
Information Available: Comment Line from a Computer Search on MEDLINE
UI - 95405441
AU - Gardner JD
AU - Barbarash RA
TI - The Internet and the Journal [letter; comment]
CM - Comment on: N Engl J Med 1995 Jun
22;332(25):1709-10
* The desired citation.
SO - N Engl J Med 1995 Oct 19;333(16):1078;
discussion 1079-80
The Comment (CM) field gives you the Date of Publication, a searchable field. Using the DP instead of the Year (YR) will allow the computer to scan for the citation in that one issue of the journal, rather than scanning the whole year, so it is the most efficient way to search when you have this information.
YOU ARE NOW CONNECTED TO THE MEDLINE (1994 - 97) FILE.
SS 1 /C?
USER:
(ta) n engl j med and 1995 jun22 (dp)
* Searching on Date of
Publication (DP).
PROG:
SS (1) PSTG (28)
SS 2 /C?
USER:
1 contains 1709-10 (pg)
PROG:
SS (2) PSTG (1)
SS 3 /C?
USER:
prt
PROG:
1
UI - 95280982
AU - Kassirer JP
AU - Angell M
TI - The Internet and the Journal [editorial]
[see comments]
CM - Comment in: N Engl J Med 1995 Oct
19;333(16):1077; discussion 1079-80
CM - Comment in: N Engl J Med 1995 Oct
19;333(16):1078; discussion 1079-80
CM - Comment in: N Engl J Med 1995 Oct
19;333(16):1078-9; discussion 1079-80
CM - Comment in: N Engl J Med 1995 Oct
19;333(16):1079; discussion 1079-80
CM - Comment in: N Engl J Med 1995 Dec
7;333(23):1573
SO - N Engl J Med 1995 Jun 22;332(25):1709-10
* Citation found.
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