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Zahra Premji

@zapthelibrarian.bsky.social

780 followers 130 following 17 posts

#CanMedLibs #EvidenceSynthesis #Librarian #UVic #Victoria #Shark-lover #WhaleWatcher

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Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Jun 3

On my way to Vancouver for #CHLA2025 conference. Looking fwd to seeing all the #CanMedLibs

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Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Apr 15

Thanks! That was all Chris. He'll be pleased that it was noticed 😃.

Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Mar 12

We know DE searches multiple controlled fields (geography, education level, and others) but phrase-indexed. It seems logical that SU searches the same fields (this time word-indexed) and therefore you would get more results.

But I was not able to get all of KW to be retrieved within a SU search

Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Mar 12

SU is different for sure. As we wrote, SU in PsycInfo (EBSCO) searches the APA thesaurus, keywords (KW), and MeSH field (word-indexed) so that can bring in a lot of noise.

I don't know about ERIC. I tested SU "critical" and KW "critical" and did not get 100% overlap of KW records within SU so 🤷‍♀️

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Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Mar 12

In PsycInfo (EBSCO), the .id field is KW. KW is word-indexed keywords. That field does not search the Subject heading fields in my tests.

In ERIC (EBSCO), there used to be a KW field. Help page says [Keywords or Identifiers - [Word Indexed]
Note: This field is not available for articles after 2017]

[Keywords or Identifiers - [Word Indexed]
Performs a keyword search for terms describing the article.
Note: This field is not available for articles after 2017.]

Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Mar 12

In ERIC (EBSCO), I tested geographic location and education level, and both could be searched with the DE prefix as long as you used the exact phrase. I didn't test all of the other controlled fields, so there could be more.

Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Mar 12

In ERIC (EBSCOhost), other controlled fields such as education level can also be searched using DE " " (phrase indexed).

But that similar phenomenon does not appear (in my tests) to apply to PsycInfo (EBSCO). For context, I tested methodology and age group exact terms using the DE prefix and got 0

Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Mar 12

Since DE is phrase-indexed, there won't be as much cross-over unless the APA Thesaurus and MeSH term are exactly the same.

Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Mar 12

Are you perhaps referring to the MESH field? In theory that is a "subject heading" field, so the description provided by EBSCO that DE searches Subject Heading fields (phrase indexed) wouldn't be incorrect. They don't specifically define it as searching the APA thesaurus field.

Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Mar 12

Had a fun time working with @craftyhilary.bsky.social on this!

We wrote and published a tutorial / guide on translating APA #PsycInfo searches from the #Ovid to #EBSCOhost interface.
doi.org/10.1017/rsm....

#ExpertSearching #SystematicReview #Medlibs #Canmedlibs

Translating systematic searches in the APA PsycInfo database from Ovid to EBSCOhost: A tutorial based on a filter translation | Research Synthesis Methods | Cambridge Core

Translating systematic searches in the APA PsycInfo database from Ovid to EBSCOhost: A tutorial based on a filter translation

doi.org

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Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Feb 22

I don't have stemming as a category on this database syntax sheet (libguides.uvic.ca/ld.php?conte...). Sharing it nonetheless. I might consider adding that function, in the future.

libguides.uvic.ca

Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Jan 29

Applications are currently open (until Feb 3rd, 2025) for the Evidence Synthesis Institute Canada, taking place April 14-17th, 2025. More details and link to the application form can be found here: libguides.uvic.ca/ESICanada

#ESICanada2025 #Librarian

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Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Nov 18

Yes, please.

Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Nov 6

It looks like the parent PressBook site (through BC Campus) is down right now - not sure if its just for maintenance or if they are having issues. I assume it won't be long. Perhaps it will be back up tomorrow.

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Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Oct 18

Nice!!

Reposted by Zahra Premji

Amy @amylibrarian.bsky.social · Oct 18

Happy to see the preprint syntax table cited in the revised Cochrane Handbook. Syntax table: lib.uvic.ca/preprintsear... Chapter 4 of the Handbook: training.cochrane.org/handbook/cur...

Chapter 4: Searching for and selecting studies

training.cochrane.org

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Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Sep 10

Awww, thank you for the kind words 😍

Zahra Premji @zapthelibrarian.bsky.social · Sep 8

Thank you! I guess it was time 😁