New Library videos on effective literature searching

I've just published a series of short videos on the Library's Vimeo channel, taking you through the six steps to an effective literature search.
The videos are designed to viewed in order, but can also be viewed independently. The videos are available at http://vimeo.com/channels/lshtmlibrary/, or via the links below.

• 1.1 Asking searchable questions and choosing search concepts
• 1.2 Turning your topic into a searchable question using PICOST
• 1.3 Choosing limits
• 1.4 Modifying the scope of your search
• 2.1 Library catalogues, search engines and databases: what's the difference?
• 2.2 Choosing the most appropriate databases
• 3.1 Choosing your search terms
• 3.2 Subject headings, thesaurus terms and MeSH
• 4.1 Using truncation and Boolean operators
• 4.2 Using wildcards and proximity searching
• 4.3 Putting it all together: using the search history to complete your search strategy
• 5.1 Finding full text using SFX
• 6.1 Keeping notes on your search activities

I hope you find the vidoes useful, please leave feedback either on Vimeo or in the comments below. This is the first time the Library have tried to create videos on literature searching so we would be really interested in your feedback.

MeSH - changes for 2013

NLM have released details of the changes to MeSH for 2013. The new MeSH terms will go live in PubMed in mid-December and in Ovid with the completion of the 2013 global reload on 7 January.

New MeSH terms are added to new records in the database, they are not retrospectively changed. Therefore, you may need to use both old and new MeSH terms in your search to ensure you retrieve all relevant articles.

Changes which may be relevant to School staff and students include:

New MeSH terms (complete list)

Binge drinking Community integration Controlled substances Crowdsourcing Drug overdose Epidemiological monitoring Food quality Genocide Geographic mapping Geography, medical Hand hygiene Health impact assessment Health information management Health information systems Healthcare financing

Homophobia Human migration Human papillomavirus DNA tests Maternal death Prescription drug misuse Public health surveillance Racism Smoke-free policy Social discrimination Social marginalization Solid waste Spatial analysis Tobacco products Waste water Water resources

Deleted MeSH terms (complete list)

• Overdose - use Drug overdose instead
• Residential mobility - use Population dynamics instead

Changed MeSH terms (complete list)

•  Handwashing - replaced by Hand disinfectant

Contact the Library if you have any queries about how this may impact your saved searches. For more information about MeSH see the National Library of Medicine help pages.