Skip to Main Content

Library Tutorials

The following tutorials will help you get started using the research tools provided by Himmelfarb.

Introduction

Searching Cochrane Library

In Advanced Search, there are four tabs to choose from.

  • Search allows you to enter a basic search. You can specify search fields here, such as title or author.
  • Search Manager gives you the ability to build a more complex search with multiple lines.
  • Medical Terms (MeSH) allows you to search by NLM medical subject headings.
  • PICO Search allows you to search by PICO terms.

Cochrane Advanced Search


Using Search Manager

Here, you can add and combine lines to your search strategy. You can also specify search fields and search MeSH terms.

Consider the following example (click on image to expand it). In Line 1, we are searching for the keywords "child" AND "psychiatry" in the title/abstract/keyword field. In Line 2, we are searching for the MeSH term "child". In Line 3, we are combining our searches from Lines 1 and 2.

The number in the blue box to the right of each line tells us how many search results that search gets. Click on the blue box to see the results.

Click on image to expand it.

Cochrane Library Tutorial Videos

Search Results

The search results are separated into several tabs.

Cochrane search results

So what's included under each tab?

  • Cochrane Reviews: Published systematic reviews
  • Cochrane Protocols: Systematic reviews in progress
  • Trials: Randomized controlled trials (from CENTRAL Register of Controlled Trials)
  • Clinical Answers: Summaries of Cochrane reviews, written for clinicians by clinicians

To the right of these tabs, there is a drop-down tab ("More") which provides access to Health Systems Evidence and Social Systems Evidence, repositories from McMaster Health Forum.

Exporting Results

1. Click Select All or select the specific articles you want from the results lists.

2. Click Export Selected Citation(s).

3. Choose the RIS (EndNote) format and click Download.

The Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library
Questions? Ask us.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

The George Washington University