Using My NCBI

1. Using My NCBI Customizing your PubMed search experience New England Region, NN/LM June 2007 The NN/LM NER is funded by the National Library of Medicine under a contract (#N01-LM-1-3518) with the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester.

2. What is My NCBI • Save TIME! Save searches & receive automatic updates • Customize searching • Set search filters • Set user preferences • Turn on highlighting of search terms • Save results & build bibliographies

3. Set up a My NCBI account • Click Register: This needs to be done only once.

4. Register • Pick a username and password. Write them down! • Choose a security question and answer. Write it down! • Provide your email address. • Click Register.

5. You’re registered! You will see a Welcome sign indicating you’ve successfully registered and are signed in. For future sessions, simply click Sign In and use your username and password. Working on your own personal computer? Then check this box to stay logged into your My NCBI indefinitely. Every time you access PubMed, you’ll automatically be in your My NCBI account.

6. Watch • Once you’ve supplied an email address for a My NCBI account during the registration process • Watch for an email sent to you from My NCBI

7. Validate • Validate your email address by following the instructions in the email Note: Your My NCBI account will not send email to any email address that has not been validated. This means that automatic updates for saved searches will not be emailed. So, it is important to watch for this email and respond to it.

8. Access your My NCBI account • Two ways to access your My NCBI account: • From the upper right hand corner of the PubMed page • From the blue side bar on the left hand side of the PubMed page

9. Configure your account • From the blue side bar, you can: • Access saved searches & collections • Set filters • Set Document Delivery options • Select an Outside Tool • Set User Preferences • Change your Password • Sign out of your account

10. What’s a filter? • A filter is like a sieve designed to “catch” a certain type of citation • Citations to articles in English • Citations that are Review articles • And more • The PubMed results run through the sieve • The citations “caught” by the filter are grouped under a tab on the PubMed results page.

11. More on Filters • Filters sort of “float” along on top of a search • ALL citations that meet the search criteria are returned • Citations “caught” by the filter are easily identified by the tab. Click the tab to view just that group of results.

12. Why use Filters? • Convenience and ease • Do you generally limit searches to, say, English language only? Then, set a Filter once in My NCBI and easily see that group of citations. • Do you want to see, for example, free full text articles? Then set a Filter once in My NCBI and easily see that group of citations.

13. Set your Filters • Click on the Filters link from the blue side bar

14. Choose a database • Click PubMed

15. Quick Picks • Review = a current default for all PubMed users. That’s why it’s already checked.

16. More on Quick Picks • For each filter selected, a tab will appear in PubMed search results • Choose a filter by checking its box • Remove a filter by un-checking its box

17. Example: This configuration

18. Yields these tabs in a search:

19. What do the tabs mean? • Total results = 95 citations: • 81 results are in English. Access just these citations by clicking the English tab. • 10 results have free full text available. Access just these citations by clicking the Free full text tab. • 19 results are Review articles. Access just these citations by clicking the Review tab.

20. Changing Quick Picks • Change the filter selections and you change the tabs that appear in PubMed search results • Changes are easily made by using the Quick Picks option in your My NCBI account • Access Quick picks easily via the Tool icon on the PubMed search page:

21. Change the Quick Picks to:

22. And the tabs in Results change:

23. Back to Quick Picks • Select the Filters you wish to have operational • Those Filters will stay in place until you change them

24. Beyond Quick Picks • Many other Filters are available • Click on Browse to see other Filters

25. Browse Filter options

26. LinkOut for Libraries • Does your library provide a special Link for you to access PubMed – a link that allows you to access the full text of journal articles through the PubMed database? • If so, your library may participate in LinkOut for Libraries. Consult your librarian for confirmation. • Set a Filter for these in your My NCBI account in three easy steps

27. First… • Click Libraries from the Browse page

28. Second, find your library • Scroll down in the list of libraries until you find your library’s name • For an example, using the U Mass Medical School Library: Click on the NAME of the library – not the globe

29. Third… • Click in both boxes • Add a result tab • Add a link icon

30. You’re done!

31. Now, search results show: • A simple click on the umasslib tab gives access to all the citations that this library has Linked to PubMed NOTE: to actually read the electronic full text, I must be accessing PubMed via my library’s special URL

32. Hey! Where’s my library? • Didn’t find your library in the LinkOut list of libraries? • But you still get access to electronic full text of journal articles through PubMed? • Then your library may use an Outside Tool. Check with your librarian for confirmation.

33. Outside Tool • An “Outside Tool” is another way of providing full text access through PubMed. SFX is just one example of an Outside Tool. • This is not a filter – so no tab will appear. But, it is possible to make your library’s icon appear in the AbstractPlus, Abstract, or Citation format for citations in PubMed. Click Outside Tool

34. Locate your institution • Use the alpha list to find your institution’s name Click the button next to the name to select it.

35. See the icon • Now, no matter what computer is used to search PubMed, your My NCBI account will allow you to see your library’s holdings. • Set this up once – it stays active until you change it.

36. Other Filters • Subject related Filters are in the Properties group. • Click Properties to see the list

37. Explore Properties Click on a link to view the Filter options related to that sub-category

38. For example…. Interested in one of these links? One click on the link will bring you to a page where you can add this filter to your My NCBI account

39. Take Note…. • 5 filtersmay be active at any given time • Over 70 different Filter options are available

40. View your Filter selections

41. My Selections You can de-select Filters from this page, too, by unchecking any box.

42. One last word on Filters • Remember that filters float along on top of a search. • Filters are independent of each other. Think of them as Boolean ORs, notANDs. • What this means: If a searcher sets filters for English language and Free full text, each group may be viewed separately – not together. There is no way to click on both tabs simultaneously.

43. Tacking: the mechanics In order to see the articles that are English AND Free full text, you must tack the filters onto the search. Click on a tab. Look for the tack icon. Now, click on the tack itself. Watch what happens in the search box.

44. Tacking: the results • Clicking the tack icon has “tacked” that filter onto the search strategy. See the search box now. • This process may be repeated with other filters. • This is also used for adding a filter to a search strategy in order to save the filter with the search.

45. Beyond Filters • Use My NCBI to save searches • Have PubMed automatically email you updates

46. Saving Searches • Useful for current awareness • Useful for receiving table of contents information from a journal • Useful for tracking a subject over time • Have PubMed automatically email updates

47. Saving Searches: Step 1 • Develop a search strategy. • Run the search. • Click “Save Search”

48. Saving Searches: Step 2 A new window will open: You may edit the name of the search. This will not alter the search strategy itself in any way. The name of the search will be part of the subject line of automatic email updates. You may edit the name of the search. This will not alter the search strategy itself in any way. The name of the search will be part of the subject line of automatic email updates. You may edit the name of the search. This will not alter the search strategy itself in any way. The name of the search will be part of the subject line of automatic email updates. You may edit the name of the search. This will not alter the search strategy itself in any way. The name of the search will be part of the subject line of automatic email updates. You may edit the name of the search. This will not alter the search strategy itself in any way. The name of the search will be part of the subject line of automatic email updates. Indicate whether or not you would like to receive email updates of new search results. Indicate whether or not you would like to receive email updates of new search results. Indicate whether or not you would like to receive email updates of new search results. Indicate whether or not you would like to receive email updates of new search results. If no, the search will be stored and you must update it manually at your convenience. If no, the search will be stored and you must update it manually at your convenience. Ifyes, more information is needed…. Ifyes, more information is needed….

49. Step 3: Set schedule • Set timing • Set format (Summary, Abstract, Citation, etc.) • Choose HTML or text email format • Set maximum number of items to send • Add additional text if desired • Click OK Recommended: The maximum number of items to send via email is set at 5. You can leave it there or choose a lower number. When PubMed emails you an update, it will provide a link to all the new citations. It’s not necessary to have them all sent to you email inbox.

50. You’re done! • PubMed will email updates to the designated email address at the scheduled times. • Note: Each My NCBI account can have only 1 email address that will be used for all automatic email updates. Email addresses must be confirmed by PubMed prior to sending any email updates. • It may be necessary to add mail.nih.govand ncbi.nlm.nih.gov to your email’s safe list to avoid your email system’s spam detector.