The posts on this topic on this list have been both excellent and very
interesting. I was most impressed, for example, by the wonderful and very
informative post from Margaret Allen.
I would like to mention a couple of things regarding comparative searching
capabilities between the two systems.
OVID facilitates searching groups of words on one or both sides of a
positional operator and the words can be replaced by search step numbers
that represent the word groups one wants searched with a positional
operator with another word, group of words or search step number.
4 adj8 6
To get the same result in EBSCO, one would need to search every single
pair of terms with their w operator for retaining words in the same word
order or the n operator for allowing one term to be on either side of the
other term.
OVID allows limiting to fields with the famous dot dot searching with the
ability to limit search steps to one field up to quite a few fields in one
search step.
baseball.ti,df,ab,tx.
With EBSCO one must limit to one field only in each search step and then
combine search steps with Boolean operators, usually the and operator.
To limit to subject in EBSCO one can only limit to one field in one step
and the options in EBSCO databases seem more limited than those provided
by OVID.
Consider the choices extended to the user when More Fields is selected by
someone searching MEDLINE in OVID:
All Fields (af)
- or choose from among the following fields -
ab: Abstract kf: Keyword Heading Word
ax: Author Last Name lg: Language
au: Authors sh: MeSH Subject Heading
fa: Authors Full Name jc: NLM Journal Code
rn: CAS Registry/EC Number/Name of Substance nj: NLM Journal Name
cm: Comments nw: NLM Journal Word
cp: Country of Publication nm: Name of Substance Word
dp: Date of Publication ot: Original Title
ep: Electronic Date of Publication pg: Page
ed: Entry Date pn: Personal Name as Subject
xs: Exploded Sub-Heading pa: Primary Author
fs: Floating Sub-Heading pt: Publication Type
gs: Gene Symbol ro: Record Owner
gw: Gene Symbol Word rd: Revision Date
no: Grant Number ms: Secondary Source ID
is: ISSN sm: Space Flight Mission
in: Institution hw: Subject Heading Word
ir: Investigator tw: Text Word
ip: Issue/Part ti: Title
jn: Journal Name ui: Unique Identifier
sb: Journal Subset up: Update Date
jw: Journal Word vo: Volume
kw: Keyword Heading
This is a very powerful collection of choices and hence in OVID for the
above reasons, one has much more control of their search and a wider range
of choices for obtaining tight on target searching than the search
capabilities of EBSCO permit at this point in time.
Nevertheless, if one must use EBSCO, one can get credible searches from
that databank if one does their searching carefully and is aware of what
works and what does not work in EBSCO. I had very successful search on
the general topic of event planning at music festivals with a large body
of synonyms for each of these major facets to this topic. A search
regarding long term memory and positive memories and drug addiction
relapse was also successful in EBSCO. EBSCO works, but OVID has
important and useful tools not found in EBSCO at this point in time, so
those who both need powerful searching tools and the use of EBSCO,
SportsDiscus or both, may want to do some lobbying at EBSCO's doorstep.
I hope some on this list will find these observations useful to this
discussion of these two major databanks. I am, perhaps, more dependent on
EBSCO than some on this list as I am also involved with tourism,
recreation, sports psychology and sports management as well as medicine at
Temple.
Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204 - 4584
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