NHS Search 2.0 update

Since its launch the National Library for Health’s Search 2.0 system for searching healthcare databases such as Medline, CINAHL and EMBASE has added a number of new features to make advanced searching easier.

For best results use the Healthcare Database Advanced Search where these new features, outlined below, are available. To access this page from www.library.nhs.uk, login with your NHS Athens password, then click Healthcare Databases Advanced Search below your login details on the left.

Saved searches and alerts

When saving searches and alerts it is now possible to select a limited number of rows of your search strategy to save, rather the previous default to save the entire search history. The option to select and save all in your search is also available.

De-duplication of results

You can now de-duplicate the results from different database searches. If, for example, you have run similiar searches in Medline and Embase, select the sets you wish to de-duplicate, and click on the ‘Remove Duplicates’ option below the Search History panel. A new set will be created and you’ll be able to view the unique results.

View abstracts on the results page

You can now select the ‘Show Abstracts’ tick box to view all the abstracts in your set of results.

Clipboard

You can now save search results from different searches to a temporary ‘clipboard’ before saving, printing or emailing them all at the end of  search session. The clipboard icon appears below the search history, on the search screen.

Further improvements to Search 2.0 are expected at the end of this month, so watch this space for details.

For help with using Search 2.0 why not download our 3-page 10-step guide   or try our full guide to searching Search 2.0