How PubMed Works

This series of four classes addresses increasing health information access and use by highlighting information about the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed bibliographic database. 

How PubMed Works is a series of four 90-minute presentations. The individual classes are:

  1. How PubMed Works: Introduction
  2. How PubMed Works: Selection
  3. How PubMed Works: MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)
  4. How PubMed Works: ATM (Automatic Term Mapping)

Register for each class separately. 
Each class is eligible for 1.5 MLA CE credits.

Objectives

How PubMed Works: Introduction

  • Understand what PubMed is and what's in it.
  • Find the original research that is the basis for a news article.
  • Find articles by a specific author.
  • Search for articles on a specific subject.
  • Narrow search results to a more specific subset
  • Explore Advanced Search Builder and Search History.

How PubMed Works: Selection

  • Describe some issues and concerns surrounding the current publishing landscape.
  • Articulate NLM responsibilities and practices in collecting and providing access to the biomedical literature.
  • Explain what is referenced in the PubMed database.
  • Describe the selection criteria for the different components of the PubMed database.
  • Find additional resources for authors and librarians on assessing publication quality.

How PubMed Works: MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)

  • Explore the MeSH Database
  • Describe a Controlled Vocabulary
  • Explore the four types of MeSH Terms
  • Locate and explain entry terms, date introduced, previous indexing, automatic explosion

How PubMed Works: ATM (Automatic Term Mapping)

  • Describe the contents of the 3 Translation Tables. 
  • Explain the order of ATM 
  • Analyze Search Details to verify term mapping.
  • Locate PubMed's list of indexed phrases
  • Describe 3 Ways to bypass ATM