Web site:
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/
Authority
The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH®) are
developed and maintained by the U.S. National Library of
Medicine (NLM).
Purpose
The MeSH thesaurus is a controlled vocabulary used for indexing,
cataloging, and searching for biomedical and health-related
information and documents. It enables retrieval systems, such as
PubMed, to provide subject searching of data.
Description
The three basic types of MeSH records are Descriptors, Qualifiers (subheadings), and Supplementary Concept Records (SCRs).
There are four Descriptor classes:
Descriptors are organized in a hierarchical, numbered tree structure which enables browsing from broader to narrower topics.
Subheadings are used with Descriptors to group citations for specific aspects of a subject (ex. Liver/drug effects).
SCRS aid indexing of chemicals, drugs, and similar concepts. There are four classes of SCRs:
MeSH is continually updated by NLM health science subject specialists. New terms from scientific literature and research can be recommended for addition to MeSH.
Metathesaurus Scope
The Metathesaurus also includes the following MeSH translations:
Audience
The MeSH vocabulary is designed for use by NLM for indexing and
searching the MEDLINE database of journal citations and
cataloging the NLM collection.
MeSH is used by indexers, subject catalogers, online searchers,
and in retrieval systems.
Update Frequency
A revised MeSH vocabulary is released annually; Descriptors and
Qualifiers are updated annually while Supplementary Concept
Records are updated continuously.
Metathesaurus Update Frequency
MeSH is an updated source in each Metathesaurus release.
Descriptor and Qualifier changes appear in the November release
while Supplementary Concept Record changes appear in each
release.
Sites Consulted