Evidence Synthesis Methods Interest Group

Experts,

Hi! I am working on an animal-related search. Altricial animals, specifically--animals whose young are completely helpless at birth, like primates, canids, felids, rodents, etc. (Don't you love learning a vocabulary word? LOL)

Anyway, I have a list of the altricial animals, both common & genus names. In PubMed, if there are MESH terms for both the family and the common name (e.g., Canidae[Mesh] would include Dogs[Mesh] and Wolves[Mesh]), is it sufficient to include only Canidae[Mesh] in my search strategy, assuming that it explodes to include the terms lower on the tree? Or should I also throw Dogs[Mesh] & Wolves[Mesh], in additional to all my TIAB keywords?

Thanks so much!
Jane

------------------------------
Jane Yatcilla
Health & Life Sciences Information Specialist
Purdue University Libraries
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Original Message:
Sent: 12/6/2021 10:33:00 AM
From: Jane Yatcilla
Subject: PubMed search question (re animals)

Experts,

Hi! I am working on an animal-related search. Altricial animals, specifically--animals whose young are completely helpless at birth, like primates, canids, felids, rodents, etc. (Don't you love learning a vocabulary word? LOL)

Anyway, I have a list of the altricial animals, both common & genus names. In PubMed, if there are MESH terms for both the family and the common name (e.g., Canidae[Mesh] would include Dogs[Mesh] and Wolves[Mesh]), is it sufficient to include only Canidae[Mesh] in my search strategy, assuming that it explodes to include the terms lower on the tree? Or should I also throw Dogs[Mesh] & Wolves[Mesh], in additional to all my TIAB keywords?

Thanks so much!
Jane

------------------------------
Jane Yatcilla
Health & Life Sciences Information Specialist
Purdue University Libraries
------------------------------

Thanks, Megan. That's what I thought, but needed a little validation. :^)

Jane

------------------------------
Jane Yatcilla
Health & Life Sciences Information Specialist
Purdue University Libraries
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Dec 06, 2021 11:49 AM
From: Megan Kocher
Subject: PubMed search question (re animals)

If exploding Canidae includes wolves and dogs, there's no need to include those as MeSH terms. I would still put them in your TIAB keywords though.

Original Message:
Sent: 12/6/2021 10:33:00 AM
From: Jane Yatcilla
Subject: PubMed search question (re animals)

Experts,

Hi! I am working on an animal-related search. Altricial animals, specifically--animals whose young are completely helpless at birth, like primates, canids, felids, rodents, etc. (Don't you love learning a vocabulary word? LOL)

Anyway, I have a list of the altricial animals, both common & genus names. In PubMed, if there are MESH terms for both the family and the common name (e.g., Canidae[Mesh] would include Dogs[Mesh] and Wolves[Mesh]), is it sufficient to include only Canidae[Mesh] in my search strategy, assuming that it explodes to include the terms lower on the tree? Or should I also throw Dogs[Mesh] & Wolves[Mesh], in additional to all my TIAB keywords?

Thanks so much!
Jane

------------------------------
Jane Yatcilla
Health & Life Sciences Information Specialist
Purdue University Libraries
------------------------------