Enter a Search Query
In the query box, enter one or more terms (e.g.,
multiple sclerosis) which describe your search topic. Common "stop
words" such as "a," "an," "for," "the," "and" "it," although
you may enter them, will not be searched.
Examples of search terms:
- cancer
- genetic disorders
- lupus
- American Cancer Society
- Alzheimer's disease
- alcoholism
- mental health
- multiple sclerosis
Use the radio buttons to refine your search.
Using any of the words will get the greatest retrieval.
Using exact phrase will get the most specific retrieval,
but may limit your search results.
Limit Search Query
Use the check boxes to limit the fields searched.
If you do not use the check boxes ALL fields will be searched.
You may limit your search to the organization name or acronym or
MeSH headings/keywords fields.
Search Selected Fields
Use these check boxes to search for organizations
with toll-free numbers or organizations with services for the hearing
impaired.
The search in this example retrieves only
records with toll-free telephone numbers.
Browse the Index
Clicking on the Browse the Index button
will display a segment of the DIRLINE index, beginning with the
term you enter (e.g., leukemia), and let you scan the index alphabetically
above or below the original display by clicking on the Up or Down
button.
For each index term, the system displays the
number of DIRLINE records containing that term. By checking the "Check
to Select" box(es) corresponding to the index term(s) of interest
and clicking on the Select button, you can search on the selected
term(s). You may browse the index to all words (Text Words) or
Keywords/MeSH Headings.
Other NLM Resources and Support Pages
The Right Side Column on the Screen
You may also visit additional NLM Web-Based Resources:
- Health Hotlines - Health-related
organizations operating toll-free telephone services. The database
also includes information on services and publications available
in Spanish.
- MEDLINEplus - MEDLINEplus
has extensive consumer health information from the National Institutes
of Health and other trusted sources on over 600 diseases and
conditions. There are also lists of hospitals and physicians,
a medical encyclopedia and a medical dictionary, health information
in Spanish, extensive information on prescription and nonprescription
drugs, health information from the media, and links to thousands
of clinical trials.
- PubMed - Access to the MEDLINE
database of biomedical literature.
- NLM Gateway - Searches across
multiple NLM databases.
- Locatorplus - NLM's online
catalog of books, audiovisuals, and journals.
Or Support Pages:
- Help - Detailed documentation,
such as what you are reading now, about searching DIRLINE.
- Fact Sheet - Provides an
expanded description of DIRLINE.
- Suggestion Form - To suggest
a resource for inclusion in DIRLINE.
About Your Search Results
Your initial retrieval is displayed as a list
of information resources with the names highlighted in blue. The
resources are displayed according to a Relevancy Ranking algorithm.
If you entered more than one term and these terms did not appear
together in any of the records retrieved, the system will display
those records containing fewer than all of the terms. Clicking
directly on any of the items will provide a display of the Selected
Record Screen, containing all the information for that item. Search
terms are highlighted in red.
By checking one or more of the numbered boxes
to the left of the list of records, you can perform operations,
such as downloading, on these selections at a later time.
You can alter your search, if you choose, directly
in the query box which reappears on this page with your search
terms. Alternately, you can use the Modify Search button,
described below.
The vertical series of buttons on the left side
of the Search Results page offers a variety of options:
Save Checked Items - This is
used to create a subset of your search results. First check the
records you want to save, then click on Save Checked Items. The
system confirms the number of items you saved and lets you display
just these references by clicking on a new button which is added
to the sidebar - Display Saved Items.
Sort Results - Sort all or some
of the records alphabetically (in ascending or descending order).
Details of your Search Strategy -
Summarizes the strategy used to perform your search. This will
include your query terms.
History of your Search Session -
Reviews your search session by itemizing your search statements,
numbering them sequentially, and listing the number of records
retrieved. Clicking on History allows you to view earlier search
result sets or combine these sets provided they are within the
same database.
Download - You can download
all or some of the records to files.
Modify Search - Return to the
Basic Search screen with your search strategy retained. You can
make changes or perform a new search at this point.
New Search - Return to the Search
screen with the query box cleared. You can now enter a new search.
Browse Index - Displays a segment
of the DIRLINE index, beginning with the term you enter (e.g.,
diabetes), and let you scan the index alphabetically above or below
the original display by clicking on the Up or Down button. For
each index term, the system displays the number of DIRLINE records
containing that term. By checking the "Check to Select" box(es)
corresponding to the index term(s) of interest and clicking on
the Select button, you can search on the selected term(s). You
may browse the index to all words (Text Words) or Keywords/MeSH
Headings.
SIS Home - Returns to the Specialized
Information Services home page.
MEDLINEplus Home - Links to
the MEDLINEplus health information home page.
Page Navigation - For searches
with a large number of records (over 10 pages of results), the
top and bottom of each Search Results page displays the total number
of pages, the current page number, the total number of items, and
the items displayed on the current page. You can navigate through
multi-page search results by specifying a page number and clicking
on the "Go" button or by using the blue arrows to go
to the following or preceding page(s). These navigation features
appear at the top and bottom of each Search Results page.
About the Selected Record Screen
This screen displays the complete record for
whatever item you selected on the Results Screen. Your search terms
are highlighted in red. Email address, Internet Address, MeSH Headings
and Other Keywords are highlighted in blue and hot-linked. By clicking
on a MeSH heading, you can find other records for resources indexed
with that subject heading. By clicking on the Internet address,
you can access the home page for that resource. Other information
appearing includes a detailed abstract describing the resource,
the date the record was last reviewed and a record identifier -
a unique number for the DIRLINE record.
You can alter your search, if you choose, directly
in the query box which reappears on this page with your search
terms. Alternately, you can use the Modify Search button,
described below.
On the left side of the screen is a column with
the following buttons:
Search Results - Return to the
Search Results display.
Download - Download the complete
record to a file.
New Search - Return to the New
Search screen with the query box cleared so that you can enter
a new search.
Browse Index - This feature
displays a segment of the DIRLINE index, beginning with the term
you enter, and lets you scan the index alphabetically above or
below the original display by clicking on the Up or Down button.
For each index term, the system displays the number of DIRLINE
records containing that term. By checking the "Check to Select" box(es)
corresponding to the index term(s) of interest and clicking on
the Select button, you can search on the selected
terms. You may browse the index to all words (Text Words) or Keywords/MeSH
Headings.
Modify Search - Return to the
New Search screen with your search strategy retained. You can make
changes or perform a new search at this point.
Details - Displays a summary
of the strategy you specified for your search.
History - Reviews your search
session by itemizing your search statements, numbering them sequentially,
and listing the number of records retrieved. Clicking on History
allows you to view earlier search result sets or combine these
sets provided they are within the same database.
DIRLINE searches for your terms, in singular
and plural form, unless you limit the search to "exact phrase."
Multiple Terms
If you search for multiple terms and there are
records containing all the terms, the system will display only
these. If none of the records retrieved contains all the terms,
the system will display records that contain at least one of the
terms, with an indication of which of the terms was found.
Relevancy Ranking
Relevancy ranking attempts to determine which
records are most pertinent to the search, and to place the most
relevant documents first in the list of returned documents. The
ranking is based upon the number of individual search terms occurring
in a record, the number of times each search term occurs in a record,
its rarity within the database, and the nearness of search terms
to each other. Records containing combinations of search words
tend to be ranked higher than documents having isolated occurrences
of the words.
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