After BIOETHICSLINE: Online Searching of the Bioethics Literature

From 1979 through December 2000, the Kennedy Institute of Ethics produced BIOETHICSLINE for the National Library of Medicine (NLM) as one of NLMs speciality MEDLARS databases designed to augment MEDLINE (the online version of Index Medicus). NLM is in the process of integrating these small specialty MEDLARS databases into two large databases: PubMed, a bibliographic database of journal citations linked in some cases to full-text materials (articles, books, and fact sheets) and/or to genetic sequence information; and LOCATORplus, an online catalog of books and similar types of publications.

As of October 2001, BIOETHICSLINE monographic records were loaded into the monographic database LOCATORplus (http://locatorplus.gov), and new records for these publication types are added to LOCATORplus on an ongoing basis. In addition, NLM has begun the transfer of BIOETHICSLINE journal records to PubMed (http://pubmed.gov). These records now constitute part of a "Bioethics Subset" of MEDLINE, to which new records will be added on an ongoing basis. A future enhancement to the new retrieval system is the Gateway (http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov), which is designed to offer cross-searching of several databases simultaneously.

We provide the following search strategies and tips to assist our patrons in searching for bioethics records in these "new" databases.

Using The Bioethics Subset When Searching Pubmed

The Bioethics Subset is an easy-to-use search limiter designed to help users focus their search results on bioethical issues. The subset is based on a pre-built strategy that looks for (1) journals that commonly publish articles on bioethics; (2) Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), the terms used most often to index these articles (both as unique terms and in combination with other terms); (3) frequently used ethics-related textwords; and (4) any records indexed by the Kennedy Institute of Ethics bibliographers.

When searching PubMed, the Bioethics Subset can be used to restrict retrieval results by specifying it as a limit from the Subsets pull-down menu at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query/static/help/pmhelp. html#Subsets. Other limits may be chosen as well to further refine the results (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query/static/help/pmhelp.html#Limits). The Bioethics Subset also can be employed as part of the search statement itself by combining the term bioethics with the delimiter [sb]. For example: autonomy AND bioethics[sb]

To review the structure of the Bioethics Subset, go to http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/pubmed_subsets/bioethics_strategy.html. At present, however, even within the Gateway, the Bioethics Subset search limiter works only on the journal records in MEDLINE. A different strategy for limiting LOCATORplus searches to bioethics-related records is suggested below.

Limiting Retrieval To Bioethics Literature When Searching Locatorplus

When searching LocatorPlus, we recommend that you use the Advanced Search Menu. In the initial search query box, enter a word or phrase. We suggest enclosing it in quotation marks, selecting: "as a phrase" in the next box, and requesting "Search In: Keyword Anywhere." Then combine your search by selecting: "AND" and inserting: "ethics KIE" into the second search query box, selecting: "any of these," and "Search In: Keyword Anywhere." Your search statement will look like this:

Search For: "posthumous reproduction" as a phrase, Search In: Keyword
Anywhere; AND Search For: ethics KIE any of these, Search In: Keyword
Anywhere; then select: Search.

As of this writing, the system retrieves 13 citations.

If the retrieved records include such statements as: Library Location: Not at NLM, Call Number: Not held at NLM, and Status: No item data available, it is likely that the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature (NRC) owns the book.

Searching George For Bioethics Books

GEORGE (http://141.161.93.5) contains records for most of the 26,000 books in the NRC, and subject access is by Library of Congress Subject [End Page 388...