Bitte wählen Sie ihr Lieferland und ihre Kundengruppe
In order to permit systematic searching of multiple data bases to satisfy requests in interdisciplinary areas, a mapping of a portion of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) to three other controlled vocabularies has been constructed. A description of the development of the mapping is followed by details of a preliminary test of its effectiveness based on searches in the subject areas of applications of physics and engineering in medicine. The test shows: (1) Index Medicus provides an average of 81% of the citations retrieved in searches using more than one source; (2) in some subject areas use of the mapping does allow an increase in the number of items retrieved, but with a loss in precision. Limitations of the mapping revealed by the test suggest possible alternative applications of the mapping in controlled vocabulary development and in on-line searching.