As a card-carrying geek, I don't do anything so pedestrian as PubMed searches. Instead, I have Hubmed deliver common search content via RSS (cheers, alf!). A side effect of this system is that you see a lot more literature than you otherwise would, particularly for broad-brush searches. In some cases, this may be instructive, leading you to things that would have escaped your notice otherwise. In other cases, it leads you to the plain weird. As a case in point, a search for "regulatory variation AND mammals[mesh]", one of my standards, today popped up with this:
Effect of chronic use of different propulsion systems in wheelchair design on the aerobic capacity of Indian users.
Mukherjee G, Bhowmik P, Samanta A
Indian J Med Res. 2005 Jun ; 121(6): 747-58
Read the abstract. Really. Then try to figure out how, exactly, it got pulled up by the search terms. Search engine authors, take note.
Comments
Where are the mammals?
I adhere to what Google and Yahoo say about search engine technology being in its infancy. But what I'm a bit intrigued about it is, I couldn't find the word "mammal" in the original abstract ( not trusting my powers of observation, I used the "find" option on the browser)...so I wonder, if search engines are in their infancy or whether they are not yet born???
Vic, Castor Oil Online
[mesh]ups
It's got a "humans" MeSH term - and humans are "mammals". Power of ontologies, yadda yadda.
Not that it makes the paper any more relevant - but that's why it's not in the abstract. :)
The search engine on the
The search engine on the NCBI website is dismal, at best. You think it's bad for Pubmed? Try the nucleotide one! Try to search for something common, say, GFP. It's result 2348 out of 2990. And it's the same for every search; the algorithm find thousands of very obscure results before the most relevant ones. Go figure :(
Scholar
Now, if we could get google scholar searches through H/Pubmed, that would be interesting...
he's nearly there folks
Now there's a man who needs to finish a thesis and take a well-earned break :)
Amen
Honest, guv, almost done. Now, how about a beer?
Not until you're done :)
Not until you're done :)
After which, drinks are on me, well, next time you see me in the same physical location anyway. Do let us know when the thesis is bound and at New South Q.