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Subject Information
Searching Natural-Language Terms
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Experienced searchers know that, for a given search, recall percentage is usually
enhanced by the addition of natural-language, free-text terms to a controlled
vocabulary search. Natural-language indexing means that searches can be carried
out using familiar terms which the authors originally used.
When searching using natural-language terms, consider use of:
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Synonyms, including common/scientific names of organisms, generic/trade
names for drugs, etc.
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British/U.S. spellings
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Truncation
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Abbreviations
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Make liberal use of free-text
To maximize the precision, limit the search to the title and keyterms.
To retrieve all possible records, even if the subject is mentioned only peripherally,
limit your search to the title, abstract, and keyterms.
Also check the BIOSIS controlled vocabulary list (Authority File) for lists of broad-
er controlled terminology to support your search.
Examples:
1) A search for the term "tobacco":
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In title, abstract, and keyterms yields 40,648 records.
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In title and keyterms yields 34,092 records.
2) A search for the "bottlenose dolphin" in TI, DE/KW:
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Using common name only yields 306 records.
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Common name truncated yields 414 records.
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Using Latin name only yields 1,047 records.
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Using both common and Latin name yields 1,128 records.
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