TELEMEDICINE INFORMATION EXCHANGE

Searching the TIE: An Overview

There are several different ways to search for information on the TIE, which varies for each database. Please read this page so you understand how to find all of the information that may be of interest to you on this site.

Database searches

Database Searches

Five of the TIE databases, the Bibliographic, Programs, Meetings, Funding and Vendors may be searched using a variety of search options. The Bibliographic, Programs, Meetings and Funding search pages can be reached from the Databases menu page, and all databases can be accesses from the gray left bar navigation. Each database is described below, with instructions on how to search each of them. If you have problems searching any of the databases, or questions at any time, please contact us at .

Bibliographic
The Bibliographic database is a collection of citations to the literature of telemedicine. A 'citation' is defined as the information needed to locate a particular article, including the title, author, journal title, journal volume and issue number, and pages. It may also include, if available, an abstract describing the article. The TIE does not provide full-text for the articles cited, however, many of them are available through our Document Delivery Service, or may be available through your local library's interlibrary loan service. They will need all the information contained in the citation, excluding the abstract. The database can be searched or browsed.

Subject search: This search engine will rank your search term(s) according to how many times it finds your terms in the title and abstract of a citation. Therefore, if you enter the word 'teledermatology' (without the quotes), it will rank your results according to those citations which have that word the most often in the title and abstract combined. For instance if it pulls up 5 citations, the first 3 citations may have the word once in the title and 3 times in the abstract; the 4th and 5th citations may have the word once in the title. It does not rank by date, so if those citations with your word appearing the most often are older citations, those will still appear first.
Note that this search function will only search the term you enter - it will not search suffixes or prefixes. For instance, if you enter 'derm' (without quotes) as a suffix or partial word for dermatology, dermatological, teledermatology, etc., it will not bring up those citations. It will only bring up citations with the word 'derm' in them. Also, it will not support the use of Boolean operators (and, or, not).

Author search: This function allows you to enter an authors last name, with an optional field for first initial. You may enter a partial name for an author. For instance, if you do not know if the author you seek is spelled Johnson or Johnsen, you may enter 'John' (without quotes) and it will display all authors whose last names begin with 'John'.

New additions search: This allows you to search on the most recent additions to the TIE Bibliographic database. It will show recently added citations in order of newest first. For instance, entering 08/01/99 would limit results to all citations added AFTER July of 1999.

Full text search: This search looks in the Title, Abstract, Author and Key Words fields for the search term(s) you specify. In general, we recommend using the subject or author search above. A full text search only returns articles containing text exactly matching the search text. Use partial words (like 'psych' instead of 'psychology') to return more results ('psychological','psychosis','psychiatry',etc.) Also, this search treats consecutive words as phrases, so to search for two or more words that do not need to occur together or in any specific order, use 'and' between each word. The boolean operators 'or' and 'not' are also supported. This function will also allow you to sort alphabetically by author, by most recent first, and to return only those articles available through the TIE's Document Delivery Service.

Journal based search: This search function allows you to search a specific journal title, find all table of contents for a particular issue, and go to individual citations in that issue. For example, if you want to find all journals with the word 'Telemedicine' in the title, use the 'contains' function and enter the word telemedicine in the search field. It will bring up a list of those journals with that word in the title. Click on a title you are interested in, and a list will appear with the year and issue number or date of each issue. Click on the issue you want for a table of contents list. This search can be accessed by clicking on the 'Journal Based Search' link from the Bibliographic search page or, on the home page grey navigation bar, the Journals section (a list of five major telemedicine journals and their current contents).

Browse: The browse function provides a list of various index fields used in the Bibliographic database. For example, if you click on Journal Name, the alphabet appears at the top of the screen. Click on the letter for the first word of the journal you are looking for, for instance 'T', and it will bring up a list of journals beginning with 'T' indexed in the TIE. You may then click on the journal name to bring up all articles indexed in that particular journal. If you had searched on author name and clicked on 'B', you would bring up a list of all author last names indexed in the TIE beginning with the letter 'B'. You could then click on the name and bring up those citations.

Coming soon (mid summer 00) the Bibliographic database search and display options will be revised.
Programs
The Programs database can be searched using the Browse function, or by entering your search term in the search field. The Browse function is the most efficient way to search. Clicking on Browse will display a list of the fields used on the TIE Program survey form, which has been completed by each Program representative. For instance, to find a program in a particular state or country, click on 'Location of Program' for a complete list of places where telemedicine programs exist. To find any Programs doing teledermatology, click on 'Active Applications' for a list of applications indexed, click on the appropriate application you are interested in, and a list of those programs will appear who have indicated that application as part of their activity.

The Programs database may also be searched by entering a text word in the search field, as per the instructions below the search field. The search return will bring a list of clickable options, depending on where that search term is found.

The main Programs page also provides a survey form for voluntary submission of programs for addition to the database.

Coming soon (late summer 00) the Programs database display options will be revised.
Meetings
This database contains a list of meetings or conferences on telemedicine or other telemedicine-related subjects. There is a drop-down box for a search by conference month and date. The list may also be sorted by conference title, location, and newest listing first. By late summer of 2000 there will be a text word search feature. There is also a submission form for those wanting to add a meeting to the list.
Funding
Search this database by clicking on 'Show all sources of funding' to display a list of agencies which typically offer funding for telemedicine projects. Each listing provides agency contact information and a link to the Web site. The database may also be searched by text word. For instance, entering the word 'rural' will bring up any grant openings or titles containing the word 'rural'. The Funding main page also provides a link to current grant openings.
Vendors
Users can search on Vendor listings using the drop-down menus for sorting alphabetically, by region, or by technology type. The vendor listing includes full contact information, link to the Web site, and a company logo. There is also a submission form for vendors not currently listed in the database.

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Page last updated on Tuesday, January 27, 2004