Biomedical subjects

P L Schuyler

Publications and source records attributed to P L Schuyler.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1993

Coach: applying UMLS knowledge sources in an expert searcher environment.

With the development of the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) Knowledge Sources, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) has produced a resource of great potential for improving the searching of MEDLINE. The Coach expert searcher system, an inhouse research project at NLM, is designed to help users of the GRATEFUL MED front-end software improve MEDLINE search and retrieval capabilities. This paper describes the Coach program, the knowledge sources it uses, and some of the ways it applies elements of the UMLS Metathesaurus to facilitate access to the biomedical literature.

Grateful Med↗

PubMed1993

The UMLS Metathesaurus: representing different views of biomedical concepts.

The UMLS Metathesaurus is a compilation of names, relationships, and associated information from a variety of biomedical naming systems representing different views of biomedical practice or research. The Metathesaurus is organized by meaning, and the fundamental unit in the Metathesaurus is the concept. Differing names for a biomedical meaning are linked in a single Metathesaurus concept. Extensive additional information describing semantic characteristics, occurrence in machine-readable information sources, and how concepts co-occur in these sources is also provided, enabling a greater comprehension of the concept in its various contexts. The Metathesaurus is not a standardized vocabulary; it is a tool for maximizing the usefulness of existing vocabularies. It serves as a knowledge source for developers of biomedical information applications and as a powerful resource for biomedical information specialists.

MEDLINE↗

PubMed1989

NLM's practices for handling errata and retractions.

The keystone of the scientific method is solid experimental design and reproducible results. The publishing of findings advances knowledge and establishes the basis for further research. In recent years, the foundations of this principle have been shaken as a small, but significant portion of the scientific literature is being flawed by the appearance of fraudulently produced research. Potentially as damaging are errors that result from poor editing and proofreading. Fraudulent articles and errors lead, at best, to misunderstandings and, at worst, to dire consequences in the treatment of patients. Errata and retraction notices are generally carried in the published literature but usually are not linked to the original data. Database producers, such as NLM, have the means to establish this link and to inform users of incorrect information in the source documents as well. This paper reports NLM's experience in bringing published retraction and errata notices to the public's attention and relates this experience to the library's overall interest in quality assurance.

Abstracting and Indexing↗