SilverPlatter Guide

CINAHL (R) (nurs)

Guide Index:
About Databasename
Combining Searches
Fields in Databasename
Finding Word Variants
Stopwords
Using Indexes
Using Limit Fields

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About Databasename

The CINAHL (R) Database (CINAHL) is the only compact disc designed specifically to meet the information needs of nurses and allied health professionals. It is the database equivalent to the CUMULATIVE INDEX TO NURSING & ALLIED HEALTH LITERATURE print index. The most widely used index in its field, the CINAHL database provides access to virtually all English-language nursing journals, publications from the American Nurses' Association and the National League for Nursing, and journals from 17 allied health disciplines. The database also covers consumer health, health sciences librarianship, chiropractic, and health services administration literature. CINAHL is a Trademark and Service Mark of Western Adventist Health Services, a California corporation d/b/a/ Cinahl Information Systems, used under license.

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Combining Searches

Beginning a search statement with an operator (and, not, or, with, near, or in) automatically combines that statement with the previous one. For instance, if the search you just completed is rheumatoid searching for and arthritis will give you the same results as if you search for rheumatoid and arthritis.

For efficient searching, use the most appropriate operator for your search:

Operator: Example: How it works:
OR memory or abilities Retrieves records that contain either "memory," "abilities," or both.
AND memory and abilities Retrieves records that contain both "memory" and "abilities."
NOT memory not abilities Retrieves records that contain "memory" and excludes those containing "abilities."
WITH memory with abilities Retrieves records that contain both "memory" and "abilities" in the same field.
NEAR memory near abilities Retrieves records that contain both "memory" and "abilities" in the same sentence.
IN memory in ab Retrieves records that contain "memory" in the AB (Abstract) field.

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Fields in Databasename (dbsn)

Records in Databasename (dbsn) are divided into the following fields. Highlighted fields are limit fields.

Label Field Name   Label Field Name   Label Field Name
AA Author Affliliation   MJ  Major Subject headings   URL URL
AB  Abstract   MN  Minor subject Headings   URLA Article URL *
AD Producer Address   NLI  NLM Identifier   URLP Publisher URL*
AN Accession Number   NO  Notes   XREC Record Features
AU  Author    NP  Named Person(s)   XURL URLs, etc.
BK Book Title   NS  Names      
BN  International Standard Book Number(s)   ON  UMI Order Number      
BY  Bibliography   OS Original Study      
CA  Corporate Author(s)   PMID PUBMED Number      
CE  CE Module   PR Price/Ordering Information      
CM  Commentary/Response   PY Publication Year   OS  Acronym 
CO Contributor(s)    RF References   OS  Acronym 
DD  CINAHL express Document Delivery   RR Record Revised   OS  Acronym 
DE  Descriptors (Subject Headings)   RV  Reviews   OS  Acronym 
DT  Document Type     SA Special Interest Current Awareness   OS  Acronym 
DV  Division   SB Journal Subset   OS  Acronym 
DX  Description Text   SE Serial Title   OS  Acronym 
ED  Editor(s)   SH Subheadings   OS  Acronym 
GI Grant Information   SN International Standard Serial Number   OS  Acronym 
IM Images*   SO  Source (Bibliographic Citation)   OS  Acronym 
IN  Instrumentation   TC  Table of Contents   OS  Acronym 
JN  Journal Name   TI Ttle   OS  Acronym 
LA Language   TP  Term in Process   OS  Acronym 
LE  Legal Cases   TX Text   OS  Acronym 
LL  Literacy Level   UD Update Code   OS  Acronym 

There is also a special subset of fields, Citation (CITN), which consists of the AN, AU, SO and TI fields. Use the citation to display, print, or save only these fields for a set of records.

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Label Field Name
AB Abstract
latency time in ab

 

The AB field contains a descriptive summary of an instrument in a primary source, or a modified instrument in a secondary source. Modifications can include the use of selected scales and/or items from an instrument, or translations of an instrument. You can search for any word or phrase of an abstract.

Browsing Abstract Terms
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse terms and search for them directly from the Abstract Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only terms drawn from the AB field, so your search will always yield results. Results of a search in this index display in the AB field.
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AC Acronym
aims in ac
  The AC field lists the acronym for the measurement instrument, if one is known. For example, "AIMS" is the acronym for the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales.

Browsing Acronyms
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse acronyms and search for them directly from the Acronym Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only terms drawn from the AC field, so your search will always yield results. Results of a search in this index display in the AC field.
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AN Accession Number
265549 in an
  The AN field contains a unique number, which identifies the record. This enables you to retrieve a specific record at any time. You can search using the field label (AN), or browse accession numbers in the Accession Number Field-Specific Index as described below.

Browsing Accession Numbers
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse accession numbers and search for them directly from the Accession Number Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only accession numbers drawn from the AN field, so your search will always yield results. Results of a search in this index display in the AN field.
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AT Analyst
hapi staff in at
  The AT field acknowledges the HaPI staff as responsible for producing the record.

Browsing Analyst Terms
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse terms and search for them directly from the Analyst Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only terms drawn from the AT field, so your search will always yield results. Results of a search in this index display in the AT field.
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AU
 Author
gilbertson in au
gilbertson* in au
  The AU field indicates the individuals responsible for creating the original instrument. In displayed records, names are hyphenated and are listed last name first. You can search for author names using the field label (AU) or browse and select names from the Author Index Field-Specific Index described below.

Browsing Author Names
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse available author names and search for them directly from the Author Index Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only author names drawn from the AU field. Names are listed in alphabetical order and display in the exact format as they are indexed in the database. This is especially helpful if you do not know the format of an author's name. This is the most efficient way to search for author names as you can browse for a name and search for it directly from this index. Results of a search in this index display in the AU field.
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BD BMDS Limit
(a limit field)
bmds-availability in bd
bd=bmds-availability
  The BD field indicates whether the instrument is available for purchase through the publisher. The phrase "BMDS-Availability" displays if the instrument is available for purchase; ordering information is listed in the Abstract (AB) field.

Browsing BMDS Limit
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can search directly for records of instruments that are available through the publisher using the BMDS Limit Field-Specific Index. Results of a search in this index display in the BD field.
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DE Descriptors
health- in de
arthritis in de
  The DE field contains controlled vocabulary terms or subject headings, called descriptors, from the "Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms" as well as the National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).

All descriptors enable you to locate documents by assigned controlled vocabulary, not free text words, and are independent of the occurrence of specific words in any field. For example, the search arthritis in de retrieves all documents about that topic, although they might not specifically mention the word "arthritis." Terms preceded by an asterisk (*) pertain to the testing instrument as opposed to the sample.

Search descriptors as a hyphenated, "bound" phrase or as individual words; a hyphenated search is the most efficient for multiword descriptors. Hyphenate one-word descriptors, for example, arthritis- in de to limit a search to a single-word descriptor.

Browsing Descriptors
As an alternative to searching with the field label (DE), you can browse available subject terms and search for them directly from the Descriptors Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only terms drawn from the DE field, so your search will always yield results. Search results display in the DE field.
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NQ Number of Questions
50 in nq
  The NQ field specifies how many questions or items are included on the testing instrument.

Browsing Descriptors
As an alternative to searching with the field label (NQ), you can browse numbers and search for them directly from the Number of Questions Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only numbers drawn from the NQ field, so your search will always yield results. Search results display in the NQ field.
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PY Publication Year
1990 in py
  The PY field contains the year in which the original instrument was published. You can search using the field label (PY) or from the Publication Year Field-Specific Index as described below.

Browsing Publication Years
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse publication years and search for them directly from the Publication Year Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only years drawn from the PY field, so your search will always yield results. Search results display in the PY field.
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RF References
parker in rf
  The RF field lists the citation information for references cited in the record's source, including the title of the document, author(s), publication year, name of publication, volume number, and pagination.

Records can also include additional references.

Browsing References
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse terms and search for them directly from the References Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only terms drawn from the RF field, so your search will always yield results. Search results display in the RF field.
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RY Reliability
y in ry
  The RY field provides accuracy (consistency and stability) information, if given by the developer(s) of the instrument, for Primary Source (PS) records. Reliability coefficients and their corresponding sample size (N) are reported for one or more of the following types: internal consistency, alternate forms, test-related, and interrater.

Browsing Reliability Indicators
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse terms and search for them directly from the Reliability Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only terms drawn from the RY field, so your search will always yield results. Search results display in the RY field.
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SC Source Code
primary source in sc
translated source in sc
  The SC field indicates the kind of source in which the document was published. Possible codes and their meanings are as follows:

Primary source: Describes resources that contain the test, including when it is appended to a journal article that describes a study using the test. Original source where instrument was published.

Publisher catalog: Information derived from the publisher's catalog, including the publisher's address.

Review source: Information from an instrument collection, information about articles that describe an instrument, or information from a review source such as Mental Measurements Yearbook.

Secondary source: Describes literature that that reports subsequent uses of a test. It can include articles that describe how the test was used, outcomes, and more, as well as some level of detail about the test or measure, such as sample questions.

Translated source: Information about instruments translated into other languages from their original language.

Browsing Source Codes
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse available source codes and search for them directly from the Source Code Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only terms drawn from the SC field, so your search will always yield results. Results of a search in this index display in the SC field. You can also search this index as a limit field, for example si=primary-source or primary-source in si.
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SO Source
spinal cord injury in so
pediatric psychology in so
  The SO field lists the citation for the publication in which the instrument is cited, including the document title, name of the publication, volume number, pagination, author(s), and publication year. You can search for any word or phrase in this field.

Browsing Source Terms
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse terms in the source field and search for them directly from the Source Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only terms drawn from the SO field, so your search will always yield results. Results of a search in this index display in the SO field.
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ST Subscale Titles
cognitive in st
  The ST field lists the name(s) of the individual elements measured in the test. You can search for any word or phrase in this field.

Browsing Subscale Titles
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse subscale titles and search for them directly from the Subscale Title Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only terms drawn from the ST field, so your search will always yield results. Results of a search in this index display in the ST field.
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TI Title
lyme disease questionnaire in ti
arthritis impact in ti
  The TI field contains the name of test instrument. You can search for any word or phrase of a title.

Browsing Titles
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse titles and search for them directly from the Title Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only terms drawn from the TI field, so your search will always yield results. Results of a search in this index display in the TI field.
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UD Update Code
(a limit field)
ud=200312
200312 in ud

 

The UD field contains the date that the record was entered into the Health and Psychosocial database in YYYYMM format. Search for a single date or search for a range of dates using the following operators:

Symbol Operation Performed Example
<
less than ud<200312  
>
greater than  ud>200312  
<=
less than or equal to ud<=200312
>=
 greater than or equal to ud>=200312  
-
within a range ud>ud=200312-200401 
You can search using the field label (UD) or from the Update Code Index described below.

Browsing Update Codes
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse dates and search for them directly from the Update Code Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only codes drawn from the UD field, so your search will always yield results. Search results display in the UD field.
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VA Validity
content in va
  The VA field indicates whether the original document includes information regarding three indicators of testing instrument effectiveness: content, criterion, and construct. Each indicator is listed and is followed by a value of "X" for reported or "Y" for not reported. The field displays in the record only if data is available.

Browsing Validity Indicators
As an alternative to searching with the field label, you can browse validity indicators and search for them directly from the Validity Field-Specific Index. This field-specific index contains only terms drawn from the VA field, so your search will always yield results. Search results display in the VA field.
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CITN Citation
  The Citation (CITN) consists of the following fields. Use the citation to display, print, or save only these fields for a set of records.

Accession Number (AN)
Author (AU)
Source (SO)
Title (TI)
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Finding Word Variants

Use the truncation symbol (*) or the wildcard symbol (?) to find variations of your search term.

Using Truncation (*)
Use the truncation symbol (*) as a substitute for any string of zero or more characters in your search term. For example, the search robot* retrieves any record containing "robot," "robots," "robotics," etc. You can use the truncation symbol anywhere in your search term, except as the first character.

Using Wildcards (?)
Use the wildcard symbol (?) as a substitute for one character or none. For example, the search m?cdonald retrieves records containing "McDonald" or "MacDonald." You can use the wildcard symbol anywhere in your search term, except as the first character.

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Stopwords

Words of little intrinsic meaning that occur too frequently to be useful in searching text are known as "stopwords." You cannot search for the following stopwords by themselves, but you can include them within phrases:

a because followed is nearly possible some use
about been following it neither previously such used
after before for its no quite suggest using
again being found itself nor rather than various
against between from just not really the very
all both further kg now regarding their was
almost but give largely obtain resulted theirs we
also by given like obtained resulting them were
although can giving made of same then what
always could had mainly often seem there when
among did hardly make on seen these whereas
an do has may only several they which
and does have might or should this while
another done having min other show those with
any during here nm our showed through within
approximately each how more out shows thus without
are either however most over significant to would
as enough if mostly overall significantly under  
at especially in must per since up  
be etc into n perhaps so upon  

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Using Indexes

The indexes available for this database are listed below. Each index enables you to look up, select, and search for variations of terms indexed in the database. Refer to the SPIRS Help for specific information about using indexes.

Using the Free Text Index

The Free Text Index (General Index in WebSPIRS) contains an alphabetical list of terms used to index the non-limit database fields. The Free Text Index allows you to look up, select, and search for variations of a term. It is particularly useful if you are uncertain of the spelling of a term or how the terms are used in the database. Since the Free Text Index shows terms used in indexing the database, searching directly from this index will always yield results. The following fields are included in the Free Text Index:

AB, AC, AT, AU, DE, RF, RY, SC, SO, ST, TI, VA

Using Field-Specific Indexes

Field-specific indexes are available for some database fields. Each field-specific index contains an alphabetical list of the terms occurring in an individual field. As with the Free Text Index, this enables you to look up, select, and search for variations of terms in the database. The advantage of a field-specific index is that you know where the terms occur in the database. For example, if you look up "1995" in the Publication Year Field-Specific Index, you know that all occurrences of the term are as a year an item was published.

In addition to the Free Text Index, the following are field-specific indexes:

Abstract (AB)
Acronym (AC)
Accession Number (AN)
Analyst (AT)
Author Index (AUI)
BMDS Limit (BD)
Descriptors (DE)
Number of Questions (NQ)
Publication Year (PY)
References (RF)
Reliability Index (RI)
Source Code Index (SI)
Source (SO)
Subscale Titles (ST)
Title (TI)
Update Code (UD)
Validity Index (VI)

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Using Limit Fields

Limit fields are specially-indexed fields that enable you to focus a search to records of documents with a specific characteristic such as publication year or language of text. They are particularly useful when combined with other search terms. Always use the field abbreviation along with in or = operators to search a limit field, such as 200312 in si or si=200312.

BMDS Limit (BD)
Source Code Index (SI)
Update Code (UD)

For limit fields containing numeric data, you can also use other special operators to retrieve a range of data within a specific field:
Symbol Operation Performed Example
<
less than ud<200312  
>
greater than  ud>200312  
<=
less than or equal to ud<=200312
>=
 greater than or equal to ud>=200312  
-
within a range ud>ud=200312-200401 

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Guide Revised August 4, 2006

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