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NLM in Print

New MeSH Browser Available on the Web

NLM's MeSH Section has produced a new MeSH browser to provide free Web access to the same detailed information available in the ELHILL MeSH file. The browser also encompasses useful features from the Annotated MeSH and the Tree Structures. It is designed to help quickly locate descriptors of possible interest and to show the hierarchies (trees) in which descriptors appear. Virtually complete MeSH records are available, including the scope notes, annotations, entry vocabulary, history notes, and allowable qualifiers. The link for the MeSH Browser is on the MeSH Homepage (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/) or you can go directly to the MeSH Browser at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/99MBrowser.html .

The Browser was created to provide an easy look-up for those primarily interested in the MeSH vocabulary itself. In the past, questions had come from the information community asking for a way to scan or browse MeSH. There was voiced a need for access to MeSH as a controlled vocabulary, or as an endpoint and not as a preliminary look-up before MEDLINE searching. It was found that some organizations use MeSH in ways not originally expected, such as for grant application file organization and other information activities. These users' needs were different from those of the MEDLINE database user. In response, a web-based browser was created to allow flexible access to the vocabulary.

The MeSH Browser provides the newest version of MeSH. New Supplementary Concepts (drug and chemical names) are added and updated quarterly. The initial screen of the MeSH Browser displays the date of the latest update so you will know the currency of the vocabulary data being browsed. The new MeSH Browser tool does not link directly to PubMed or Internet Grateful Med and is not a substitute for the vocabulary assistance offered in these search engines. If you want to use the MeSH Browser at the same time you are using PubMed or IGM, you should open it in a separate window. (This would be comparable to having the printed Annotated MeSH open at your desk, while you construct a search strategy in PubMed or IGM.) The browser is part of the MeSH Web Pages. It finds descriptors of interest without assuming knowledge of the often-complex vocabulary structure and rules. For example, if you enter male neoplasms as a search, the Browser will display a list of related descriptors including:

• Breast Neoplasms, Male (a MeSH descriptor)
• Genital Neoplasms, Male (a MeSH descriptor)
• Male Breast Neoplasms (an entry term to MeSH)
• Male Genital Neoplasms (an entry term to MeSH)

The look-up can be restricted or limited with any of the following:

• Main Headings
• Qualifiers
• Supplementary Concepts
• All of the Above

Searching for names of chemicals and other Supplementary Concepts (non-descriptors and non- qualifiers) can be limited to any of the following fields:

• Heading Mapped To (HM) (Supplementary List)
• Indexing Information (II) (Supplementary List)
• Pharmacological Action (PA)
• CAS Registry/EC Number (RN)
• Related CAS Registry Number (RR)

When a single descriptor has been selected, the complete record can then be displayed. Fields or elements within the descriptor are linked directly to additional sources such as related Indexing Manual sections, definitions and other similar information. The MeSH hierarchy or Tree Structure can also be displayed online as in this example and each descriptor is a direct link to the complete MeSH record for that term. For example, the following shows the hierarchy for Breast Neoplasms, Male:

• Neoplasms by Site [C04.588]
• Abdominal Neoplasms [C04.588.033]
• Anal Gland Neoplasms [C04.588.083]
• Bone Neoplasms [C04.588.149]
• Breast Neoplasms [C04.588.180]
• Breast Neoplasms, Male [C04.588.180.260]
• Etc.

Your comments regarding the MeSH Browser are welcome, as are your suggestions for other ways to enhance the usefulness of the MeSH vocabulary.

Contact:
Stuart Nelson, M.D., Head
Medical Subject Headings
(301) 496-1495 (voice)
(301) 402-2002 (fax)

Comments may also be sent to meshsugg@nlm.nih.gov

Thanks to Jacque-Lynne Schulman, Technical Information Specialist, Medical Subject Headings, for submitting this article.

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