How to use Medline via OVID
How do I decide what to look for?

1. What is your topic?
   
   What is effect of drug addiction on the brain?
   
   
2. What are the key concepts in your question? List them.


drug addiction, effect on brain


3. Are there other ways in which you can express these key concepts?



1. drug addiction, type of drug addiction (ie which drug? all drugs?)
2. brain effects, brain damage, brain injuries

These terms will form the basis of your search. In many databases you would have to link your terms together to find all the specific information. In Medline this is made simpler with mapping.

Once you have searched with these terms you will need to review your results to see if your search can be improved.

Having devised a search strategy you are now ready to use it to find information. Here you will use it in a database, in this case Medline.