THE COCHRANE LIBRARY

COCHRANE REVIEWS (Database of Systematic Reviews)DARE (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects)CCTR (Clinically Controlled Trials)CENTRAL (Central Register of Controlled Trials)METHODOLOGY REVIEWSCMR (Methodology Register)COCHRANE COLLABORATION & COCHRANE COLLABORATIVE REVIEW GROUPS

Go to university home page – www.gre.ac.uk – and click on ‘student portal’

Use your university network username and password to login, in or outside the university

Go to the Library & Computing tab on the portal

Click on Databases & Journals

or (via Athens DA) if accessing from home

then

NB, Athens DA must be used off-campus

From within the University,

select Electronic

Databases A-Z

Then Cochrane Library – Intranet access, and

click to enter the Cochrane Library

If using Athens DA, click on Resources to

see list of databases available

…then page down database menu and select Wiley Interscience

Click on Publication titles, then type

Cochrane Library in the search box. Click on Go.

Click on Cochrane Library

The Cochrane Library homepage allows Browsing the different parts of the database, Search options,

and Help

It is possible to browse by topic by

selecting Topic from the Browse menu, then selecting the subject from the Drop-down menu

Advanced search is to be simplest as the framework is supplied on the screen. Terms may be typed into the search box(es) using the Drop-down menus to select

search fields and Boolean operators to link terms.

Page down to

see search tips to right of screen.

Boolean search operators

• And links terms, eg: Mental Health and Geriatric

will retrieve records which contain both terms

• Or retrieves records which contain either term, eg:Neonate or Premature

• Not excludes records containing the term, eg: Acupuncture not Dry-needling

will retrieve records which contain the first term, but not if the second is also present

To search for an exact phrase, enclose term in inverted commas. Use wildcard character * to search for variants, e.g. “pregnan*” will locate

pregnancy and pregnant. See Search tips for further variations

N.B. Do not forget to select fields to

be searched

from drop-down

menus

Page down the screen to select database, or restrict search by record status or by date range

Quicksearch allows a basic search,

linking terms with the Boolean

operators And, Or or Not

The Drop-down menu enables you to limit

your search to a specific part of the

record.

Records will display up to 25 at a time. Click on Record to display more detail

A review appears. To display full text (where available),

click on links to left of screen.

N.B. Adobe Acrobat must be loaded on computers at home in order to read PDF files.

Selected citations may be marked and exported to

your own computer, or the

whole page may be exported

Choose citation only, or abstract and citation, and type of computer from drop-down

boxes

MeSH keywords from the MeSH Thesaurus published

by the US Library of Medicine have been

attached to many records. Select Mesh Search

Search the index by entering

search term, then clicking on Thesaurus.

MeSH Search Tips appear to the

right of the screen

All headings containing that word are listed. Select the term most relevant to

your interest.The result may be

restricted further by selecting terms from the drop-down Qualifiers box

Search this term only will search for just the selected

term (in red). Explode will search

for the narrower terms below as well

Search History contains a list of all searches done in the current session. Searches are listed #1, #2 etc.

To combine searches, or combine an existing search with another term, enter # and number

linking search numbers or terms with and/or/not.

To return to the Cochrane Home page

at any time click on Home. To return to the Wiley Interscience Home page, click on Wiley Interscience

Home.Search strategies may

be kept from one session to the next by

registering with Wiley Interscience from their Home

page, then using Save search strategy as

you search