Biomedical Reference Collection: Basic is designed for doctors, research scientist, students, clinical specialists and managers, this database provides full text for
over 100 journals in a variety of areas pertaining to medical study.

1. Enter your search terms or keywords in the dialog box labeled "Find."
2. Click "Search."
3. If you get too many results, you might want to Limit your search. To get more results, you can Expand your search. See below for more information on these two options.

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Advanced Search

Use the Advanced Search to add flexibility to your search or to conduct a search using specific fields, such as article title, author, subject, word(s) in an abstract, and journal name.

1. From the Basic Search screen, click on the blue "Advanced Search" tab.
2. Break your topic into keywords or phrases and enter one concept per search box.
3. To search a specific field (author, article title, journal name, etc.), change the pull down menu from "Select a Field" to the appropriate field name.
4. Click "Search."

Limits
You can use the limiters to help narrow your search. You will get fewer results using a limiter. Limiters work together, so checking the box for Full Text and the box for Peer Reviewed will only return documents that are in full text and from peer reviewed journals.

1. Full Text- Limits to articles that are available in full text in this database. Note: Articles that maybe available in Full Text in other databases or in print will not appear if this box is checked.
2. Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals- Limits to items from peer reviewed (academic/scholarly) journals. Note: You will still get letters, editorials, and reviews, which may not be considered a scholarly article for a paper.
3. Journal Title- Limits to a specific journal; only use this if you know the journal is available in this database.
4. Published Date- Limits to articles published within a specific date range.
5. Articles with Images- Limits to articles available as a PDF or Text with Graphics.
6. Cover Story- Limits to articles that were featured as a cover story. (advanced search only)
7. Number of Pages- You can limit to articles with equal to, less than, or greater than a specified amount of pages.

Expanders
You can use expanders to increase your search results. However, you may find that you get too many irrelevant results.

1. Also search for related words- Expands your search to include synonyms and plurals of your keywords.
2. Also search within the full text of the articles- Expands the search for your keywords from just the citation to include the citation and the full text of the article (if available).

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Search Results & Accessing Full Text

1. Results are first displayed in a list format including: article title, author, source (journal or magazine name), date, volume #, issue, page/column numbers, and number of pages.
2. The default is to sort records by date. Using the "Sort by" pull-down menu you can sort results by source, author, or relevance.
3. Clicking on an article title will take you to the citation record, which provides additional information, such as an abstract (summary of the article) and subject terms.
4. To keep track of useful articles, you can "Add" articles to your folder (on the right next to an article). You can then print (HTML or citations), save, and email records all at once. Be careful, the folder empties if you close your browser window!

Full Text
The full text of some articles will be available in Biomedical Reference Collection: Basic. If the full text is available, you will see:

1. , which is the full text of an article without charts, graphs, pictures, or page numbers.
2. , which is the full text of an article that includes images.
3. , which is the full text of an article available as a PDF document. A PDF is a copy of the print version of an article and includes page numbers, charts, pictures, and graphs.

If the full text of the article is not available in Biomedical Reference Collection: Basic, you can check its availability at the Ely Library (online and print) using the Full Text Periodical Directory.

1. Click on the "Click Here to Check Availability in the WSC Full Text Periodical Directory" link or on the Library's Home Page (http://lib.westfield.ma.edu/) select the "Full Text Periodical Directory" link.
2. In the "Search for a magazine, journal, or newspaper" box, enter the journal title (labeled as "Source"). Do not include the date or volume number.
3. Compare the "Coverage" dates with the date of your article and select a database that includes your date.
4. Once you have selected and entered a database, search for the title of your article.
5. If you have trouble locating a document, contact a Reference Librarian.

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Printing, Saving, & Emailing Results

Printing, saving, and emailing results are available from the citation page (clicking on a title) or from the folder page.

1. 
   1. Clicking print takes you to the "Print Manager."
   2. On the left, you can click "Estimate Number Of Pages" to see how many pages will be printed.
   3. Under "Include when printing," you can check the box for "Industry Citation Format." This will include a citation for your article in MLA, APA, or another citation style.
   4. If HTML Full Text is available, it will be included when printed. There is a check box on the right to not include the full text when printing.
      1. For a PDF, click on . You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.
      2. Click on the Adobe Printer icon toward the left of the Article window .
   5. Click "Print".
   6. A new screen will open and your browser's print window will appear. Click "Ok."
      
2. 
   1. Clicking E-mail takes you to the "E-mail Manager."
   2. Enter your full e-mail address (e.g. yourname@westfield.ma.edu) and a Subject you will recognize.
   3. Under "Include when sending," chose from the following: "HTML Full Text (when available)" and "PDF as separate attachment (when available)." You can also check the box for "Industry Citation Format." This will include a citation for your article in MLA, APA, or another citation style.
   4. Click "Send." You will get an acknowledgement and can then click on "Continue."
   5. Your e-mail message will arrive from ephost@epnet.com with the subject heading you provided.
3. 
   1. Clicking save takes you to the "Save Manager."
   2. Under "Include when saving," chose from the following: "HTML Full Text (when available)" and "HTML link(s) to article(s)." You can also check the box for "Industry Citation Format." This will include a citation for your article in MLA, APA, or another citation style.
   3. Click "Save." Your article is not saved yet.
   4. You are directed to a web page with the article you want to save. To save the article, from the "File" menu in your browser, select "Save as." "Be sure to save as a plain text file (.txt) or a 'Web Page, HTML only' file (.html)."

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URL: http://lib.westfield.ma.edu/biomed/biomed.htm
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Last updated May 9, 2007