My NCBI, Pt. 3: Using Filters

NARRATOR: Welcome to part 3 of My NCBI. In this video, I'll show you how to use filters to organize your searches.

Filters are a way to organize your search results into groups. They appear on the right side of your search results page. For example, I use the "English" limit often in my searches, so I've chosen to add that filter, which you can see here. I just click on the link to see that subset of my search results. I don't have to add those limits to my search. To set up filters for the first time, go to "My NCBI". Select Manage Filters and then select a database. You can choose up to fifteen filters for PubMed or five for any of these other Entrez databases. I'll chose PubMed.

In the PubMed filter list section, you can see filters that I've already selected. If you want to add filters, the first place to check is the "Popular" category. Just click in the box next to the ones you want. I'm going to add "Clinical Trial". When you add or delete a filter, a message appears on the page. In the "Browse Filters" section, there are three other categories. "LinkOut" links to organizations by category. "Properties" organizes results based on categories, such as "Age' or "Publication Type". "Links" connects to other Entrez databases, for example - Book Citing this Item from BookShelf online or Genome. I'll select "Books Citing this Item". You can also search for filters if you have a name for one. In the "LinkOut" category, I'll look for "Deep Blue", Michigan's open-access depository. I'll add it as a filter, and also add it as an icon. I'll be able to see the icon for Deep Blue on the individual item record in my search results. You can also create a custom filter. I'm going to create a filter that will combine Humans, English Language and Reviews. I'll give it a name. And then I'll add the search string which I've copied from a previous search I did in PubMed. I can test my filter to see it if it works by clicking "Test This Query". Now that I know that it works, I'll save it. And then I'll select it so that I can use it in the future. To learn more about creating custom filters, go to the "Filters help" link in the upper right-hand corner. On my search results page, you can see the new filters that I've added. Note that once filters have been set up, you can change them by using the "Manage Filters" link just below your list of filters. If you have any questions about PubMed or My NCBI, please contact to the Taubman Health Sciences Library.