MeSH headings, topical subheadings, and form subheadings in the Annotated Alphabetic List, may be followed by three types of notes: 1) indexing and cataloging annotations, 2) history notes, and 3) online notes. Information on the indexing and cataloging annotations may be found in the introductory sections Indexing Annotations and Cataloging Practices, respectively.
Subheading Notes
The history note of both topical and form subheadings begins with the year the subheading entered the system. Since 1992, the date in topical subheadings has been followed by a note listing the chronology of category assignments for the subheading from the time it came into the system until the present. This information provides guidance to searchers in developing strategies that may span a broad time frame.
Example:
The note means that /anatomy & histology came into the system in 1966 and was permitted with categories A and B from 1966-74. From 1975 onward, more specific category delineations have been made, such that at present, the subheading may generally be used with the subcategories named in the note, but not with A11-12, A15, and B3-5, nor with any other categories in MeSH.
The online note for both topical and form subheadings consists of two parts: a statement on search policy and any database restrictions and a statement on format and combination with MeSH headings.
Examples:
This indicates that current policy is to be found in the Online Manual (Online Services Reference Manual produced by the MEDLARS Management Section and available from NTIS)or from the NLM website. The subheading is always used with its two-letter mnemonic in searching and may be paired with a main heading, used alone, or used as part of a SUBHEADINGS APPLY command.
This indicates that use of this subheading, a form subheading no longer used by NLM, was limited to the former CATLINE and AVLINE databases
MeSH Heading Notes
The form of MeSH heading notes is being changed to make them easier to read and understand. While many notes retain the old form, headings that were edited for 1998-2003 MeSH have the new form. The new form combines the old history note and online note into one new (history) note. The new history note will no longer contain information about cross-references that are still part of the heading, because the online searcher will retrieve the same citations by typing in those cross-references. Records with the new form of note no longer explicitly denote minors with the phrase "was see under". This phrase has been changed to "use" and the date of the oldest year of the minor is placed in parentheses. See references that are no longer in the system will not have notes.
The history note begins with one or more dates unless the MeSH heading was in the system as a main heading (or major descriptor) in 1963 and has remained unchanged as a main heading to the present. A date that is not in parentheses is the year the current form of the MeSH heading entered the system as a major descriptor. A date in parentheses is the year the current form of the MeSH heading entered the system as a minor descriptor (1975-90), or provisional heading (before 1975), or when the concept (or its entry terms) first entered the system.
The dates are chronological from right to left so that the left-most is the date of the latest change in status of the MeSH heading (e.g., a change from a minor descriptor to a major descriptor) or the date of re-entry of a MeSH heading after it had previously been deleted from the system. If the history is not continuous, a range of dates is given.
Examples:
The history note (underlined) means that CARDIAC VOLUME, a major descriptor, or main heading, since 1972, was a provisional heading from 1968-71.
The history note (underlined) means that SEX DETERMINATION (ANALYSIS) entered the system as a major descriptor in 1998, but the concept first came into the system in 1963 (meaning of parenthesis in new form of notes).
The history note (underlined) means that SEX DETERMINATION (ANALYSIS) entered the system as a major descriptor in 1998, but the concept first came into the system in 1963 (meaning of parenthesis in new form of notes).
Beginning in 1992, a history note for new chemical and drug headings that existed previously as Supplemental Chemical Records was added. The Supplementary Concept Records form an auxiliary file in MeSH that contains records for chemicals and drugs encountered in the literature indexed for Index Medicus and MEDLINE but not seen frequently enough to warrant creation of a MeSH major descriptor. Should the volume of material on one of these chemicals increase, however, the concept may be elevated from Supplementary Concept status to full descriptor status.
This note alerts users to the fact that a chemical concept may have been in the
system previously in another format even though it is new as a major descriptor
and gives the dates of its earlier incarnation.
Examples:
The history note (underlined) indicates that TERFENADINE, a new major descriptor in 1992, was a Name of Substance (NM) in the Supplementary Concept Records from 1978-91. Using the Supplementary Concept vocabulary will retrieve citations beginning with 1966 in PubMed. The short form (DF) is used for data creation and not for PubMed retrieval.
The history note (underlined) indicates that MUPIROCIN, a new major descriptor in 1992, existed previously under the name PSEUDOMONIC ACID as an NM in the Supplementary Concept Records from 1977-91. The new form of note has the word "use" in place of the word "see".
The dates given in history notes are intended to help users in the preparation of search strategies, but rigid interpretation of these dates should be avoided. Ongoing maintenance and correction activities may also cause MeSH headings to be added to citations that were published and indexed prior to the date that the MeSH heading was added to the system.
In addition to date information, the history note traces changes in form, status, and mapping as well as changes in status and referred-to MeSH headings of entry terms. The following is a categorization of MeSH headings whose history notes trace these types of changes:
Examples:
The online note (underlined) means that all citations indexed under HOSPITAL CENTRAL SUPPLY from 1968 through 1977 now have CENTRAL SUPPLY, HOSPITAL in the citation instead of HOSPITAL CENTRAL SUPPLY and are therefore retrievable using the current inverted MeSH heading.
The online note (underlined) means that all citations indexed under ALLOXAN DIABETES from 1966 through 1977 now have DIABETES MELLITUS, EXPERIMENTAL in the citation instead of ALLOXAN DIABETES and are retrievable using DIABETES MELLITUS, EXPERIMENTAL. Since DIABETES MELLITUS, EXPERIMENTAL became a MeSH heading in 1978, records in the pre-1978 file having the heading DIABETES MELLITUS, EXPERIMENTAL would include only citations to articles discussing alloxan diabetes.
The online note (underlined) indicates that material on ASTEMIZOLE, a descriptor beginning in 1992, can be searched online using the qualifier (NM) as far back as 1981, since ASTEMIZOLE first came into the system as a Supplementary Concept Record at that point.
The online note (underlined) indicates that the Supplementary Concept term 6-HYDROXY-DOPAMINE was renamed OXIDOPAMINE when it was promoted to a descriptor in 1992. Since old records are maintained to current vocabulary in the online bibliographic files, the concept can be searched between 1980 and 1991 as a Name of Substance (NM), but using the new name.
Beginning in 1996, online notes were no longer provided when the replaced MeSH heading is maintained as a "see" cross-reference to the new MeSH heading since the online searcher using the old MeSH heading will retrieve the same citations.
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