With this knowledge, we have two options for the next
search.
Could we have found them - instead of by progressive query refinement - by
broadening our first query (alpha GPDH, in all
fields) that failed? Notice that if we had used only
GPD as the second keyword, this first query would
have succeeded. When uncertain of part of a keyword, OMIM
permits use of the "*" wildcard,
a special character that will match any other(s), including no character.
A more refined strategy is to specify the field(s) to be searched for each
keyword in the query. For example, when looking for reviews of renal cancer
citing Bert Vogelstein's work, a possible query is:
the query is different. The implicit connector between keywords
is "AND", while the clickable boxes force
the use of "OR" between the same keyword
sought in multiple fields. The equivalent query, using field restriction at
the keyword level is the rather complicated
doesn't work the way we want it to!
Searching OMIM
OMIM was originally a book (Mendelian Inheritance in
Man) of short review articles on genes and genetically based traits of
medical importance. Most of its information is text, so that relevant
articles can be retrieved from the on-line version using simple searches for
keywords. We'll begin our exploration of OMIM by looking for
the human gene(s) coding for the enzyme "alpha glycerol phosphate
dehydrogenase", or "alpha GPDH".
"Enter one or more search keywords:".
Enter the two keywords: alpha GPDH.
Click on the "
Submit Search " button and wait
for the result.
Click on the " Search "
button to go back and try again. This time try a search with only
alpha as the keyword.
" Title: " &
" Text: "
. These boxes are just below the keyword text entry
box.
As a final attempt, forget "alpha" and search
for the other keywords glycerol phosphate
dehydrogenase, only in the title field.
*138420
GLYCEROL-3-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE-1; GPD-1
*138430
GLYCEROL-3-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE-2; GPD-2
Query Expression Searches for documents
matching ... cancer & oncogene
BOTH cancer and oncogene cancer & oncogen*
BOTH cancer and at least one of oncogene, oncogenic, etc. cancer | oncogene
EITHER cancer OR oncogene (OR BOTH) cancer - oncogen*
cancer BUT NONE of oncogene, oncogenic, etc. cancer - oncogen* | renal
EITHER (cancer BUT NONE of oncogene, oncogenic, etc.)
OR renal (OR BOTH) cancer - (oncogene | renal)
cancer BUT NEITHER oncogene NOR renal
(clicking in both the Text: and
References: boxes)
(clicking in both the Text: and
References: boxes)
Please continue with Part
2 - OMIM Document Format