A MEDLINE Comparison: PubMed, EBSCOhost, and MD Consult

There are many versions of MEDLINE (PubMed, MD Consult, EBSCOhost, Ovid, etc.). Most contain the same

information; they only differ in their search interfaces. The three versions available at UT are PubMed, EBSCOhost,

and MD Consult. This guide lists the pros and cons of each to aid in selecting the best database for individual

research needs. PubMed is recommended for most types of searching.

Features

PubMed EBSCOhost MD Consult

Access

Remote access information is available on the

Library’s Web page:

http://www.utoledo.edu/library/mulford/remo

te.html

Free access to anyone with

Internet access; from

Library’s web page, click on

PubMed@UT link

On and off campus to

registered Mulford

Library users; from

Library’s web page,

click on PubMed@UT

link

On and off campus to

registered Mulford

Library users; from

Library’s web page,

click on Full-Text

Resources link

Available Help

http://www.utoledo.edu/library/mulford/educ

ation/index.html

Library help sheets and

online help

Library help sheet and

online help

Library help sheet and

online help

Resources

PubMed EBSCOhost MD Consult

Links to selected full-text articles (no version of

MEDLINE has the full-text of all articles)

To all online journals

available to UT Health

Science Campus if

accessed through the

Library’s web page; click (as

available) Olinks, EJC, UT

Electronic, or Free full text

To all online journals

available to UT Health

Science Campus; click

OLinks or Find It!

Links only to full-text

articles in MD Consult;

does not link to all of

the full-text articles

available at UT Health

Science Campus

Links to information about whether the Mulford

Library owns the journal

Click (as available) OLinks,

EJC, UT Print, UT Electronic

Click OLinks or Find It! No

University of Toledo  Raymon H. Mulford Library

http://www.utoledo.edu/library/mulford/

(419) 383-4218  [email protected]

Search Features

PubMed EBSCOhost MD Consult

Field Searching (such as Author, Subject, Title,

etc.)

Click Preview/Index tab;

fields in drop-down

menu. Preview runs

the search; Index

results in an

alphabetic list for

browsing; Limits tab

allows browsing by

author or journal;

journals database in

sidebar

Extensive options in

advanced search

Keyword drop-down

Author and journal title

search boxes available

Related article searching Click Related Articles

link

Click Find More Like

This

Use Find Similar Articles (for

selected articles only)

Content

PubMed EBSCOhost MD Consult

Years Included

1949 - present

(MEDLINE and

OLDMEDLINE

together)

1966-present 1966-present (or can select

a subset on search form)

PREMEDLINE (citations in process, but not yet

indexed)

Yes No Only those few articles

available full text from MDC

are available before they

are indexed

Out of scope citations, primarily life sciences

articles from general science and chemistry

Yes No No

Citations that precede the date a journal was

selected for MEDLINE indexing

Yes No No

More Search Features

PubMed EBSCOhost MD Consult

Thesaurus search option Click MeSH Database

link on left side of the

page

Select Suggest Subject

Terms or click the

MeSH link at the top

of the page

Medical subject headings (MeSH) look up Click MeSH Database

link on left side of the

page

Select Suggest Subject

Terms or click the

MeSH link at the top

of the page

Limit to major subject heading (main point of the

article)

In thesaurus, check

Restrict Search to

Major Topic headings

only.

In thesaurus, check

Major Concept

Expand/explode (includes narrower MeSH terms

in search)

Default explode; In

thesaurus,

uncheck Do not

explode this term

In thesaurus, click

Explode

MeSH terms subheadings option Click MeSH Database

link on left side of the

page

Select Suggest Subject

Terms then click on

subject heading; or

click MeSH

Combine results of two or more searches

Click History tab;

operators must be in

capital letters: AND,

OR, NOT

Click Search

History/Alerts tab;

combine results by

checking

corresponding sets

and using drop down

box with operators

(AND, OR, NOT)

No; must combine on a single

line

Save Search History

Click History tab; print

page (or opt to print

selection only)

Click Print Search

History link

Limiting Methods

PubMed EBSCOhost MD Consult

Narrow results before search, using available limits

Click Limits tab Click Refine Search tab On search form

Narrow results after search, using available limits Click Limits tab Click Refine Search tab No, must re-run entire

Language Click Limits tab Click Refine Search tab;

full list of languages

past English checkbox

Human or Animal Click Limits tab; also

animal classifications

(i.e., genus, species)

are MeSH terms

Click Refine Search tab;

can also limit to specific

animal types; also

animal classifications

(i.e. genus, species) are

MeSH terms

Age (limiting a MEDLINE search by age can be

tricky; see help materials for details)

13 options; click Limits

tab

12 options; click Refine

Search tab; can select

multiple age groups at

once; also all infants,

all children, all adults

8 options; on search form

Publication Type 56 types under Type of

article in Limits tab

59 types; click Refine

Search tab; can select

multiple types at once

Article Type drop-down

menu has 4 options:

Reviews, Cochrane,

Opinions, Trials

Review Articles Click Limits tab; review is

a Type of article

Click Refine Search tab In Article Type drop-down

Evidence-based practice resources Click Clinical Queries link

on left side of page

Click Refine Search tab;

select EBM Reviews

In Article Type drop-down

Date limits Click Limits tab; date of

publication and date of

inclusion in PubMed

(Entrez)

Click Refine Search tab;

date of publication

Date Range and Date

options on search form

Citation Management

PubMed EBSCOhost MD Consult

Store/save citations Mark records and select

Clipbard from Send to

Click on Add icon (looks

like a folder)

Email citations Click on Clipbard tab,

then select Email from

Send to menu

Store records, then click

on Folder has items,

then email

Export citations to bibliographic management

software

Click on Clipbard tab,

select MEDLINE from

Dispdlay menu, then

select File from Send to

Store records, then click

on Folder has items --

Folder View. Click

Export icon then select

Bib Manager format

Store/save searches Temporary (8 hours) or a

permanent save using

My NCBI

Temporary (24 hours) or

permanent save on

Search History/Alerts

tab

Current awareness Use My NCBI Click Search

History/Alerts tab

Weekly summaries of

selected journals; News

tab, In this Week’s

Journals

Jolene M. Miller, MLS, Head of Information Services, Maria C. Melssen, MLIS, Reference/Education Librarian, Janice Flahiff, MLS, Reference Librarian

Latest update: jan09 Gerald Natal, MLIS