Talk:Medical Subject Headings

Suggestions for improvement

 * This article could do with an overview graphic for the major topics. The current list is very long - usually several typical screens.
 * Some MeSH screenshot would be good illustration.

Jakob Suckale 14:59, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

Zimmeee (talk) 00:43, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
 * In the descriptor hierarchy section, the index codes referenced do not correspond to the current version of the graphic

Finding a suitable MeSH term
It is one the strengths of PubMed that a simple 'Google-type' search formulation is automatically mapped to relevant MeSH terms, which are then included in the search formulation, making it much more sensitive. (The PubMed WP article gives two examples). However this 'automatic MeSH look-up' sometimes fails. Checking the MeSH thesaurus (various sites) often gives other terms for the the condition etc. with reference to the preferred thesaurus term, e.g. 'cot death' points to 'sudden infant death'. If all fails, one could try to find articles which mention the concept required in the title (e.g. 'cot death [ti]' and then inspect the MeSH fields of articles retrieved to see whether there is a corresponding MeSH term. This may be very time consuming though....

So, what I am driving at: there are a number of PubMed add-ons, which take a set of articles retrieved, and then analyse them, arranging MeSH terms (and content other fields) in order of frequency with which they appear on that set, One system is Anne O'Tate which uses the PubMed interface and search syntax. Searching for "knowledge transfer" and then displaying 'Topics' (i.e. MeSH terms) reveals MeSH terms such as 'Diffusion of Innovation' or 'Information Dissemination' as possible terms to include in a comprehensive search.

My question: should PubMed add-ons such as Anne O'Tate or GoPubMed be mentioned in this WP article? Sleuth21 (talk) 13:51, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Title should be in title case
In my opinion, the title of this article should be in title case: Medical Subject Headings. The article's subject is a specific dictionary-thesaurus edited and compiled by a specific publisher, the United States National Library of Medicine. Its title is a proper noun, not a common noun. Searching Google for "medical subject headings" (all lower case), most of the hits are in title case.—Finell 22:42, 3 June 2016 (UTC)
 * Per WP:NCCAPS, we use sentence case, not title case, for article titles (and headings, too). Surely you've been around long enough to understand that.  Perhaps what you meant to argue is that you think that Medical Subject Headings is a proper name of a publication.  That's a completely different argument, which might fly. Dicklyon (talk) 02:22, 4 June 2016 (UTC)
 * But what puts readers off that scent is the opening sentence: "Medical subject headings (MeSH) is a comprehensive controlled vocabulary for the purpose of indexing journal articles and books in the life sciences". That is the theme of the article, then, not a titled publication. Tony   (talk)  07:31, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

Title
Shouldn't this be titled just "Medical Subject Headings?" I can't think of any other title that has the full name followed by its abbreviation is parentheses. Raymond1922 (talk) 00:34, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

Requested move 26 November 2016

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: MOVED — UY Scuti Talk  05:27, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) → Medical Subject Headings – Titles don't normally use the full name followed by its abbreviation in parentheses. Raymond1922 (talk) 02:09, 26 November 2016 (UTC)
 * Support a very good point. --Tom (LT) (talk) 21:51, 26 November 2016 (UTC)
 * Support just do it, and see if anyone objects... I doubt it.Sbalfour (talk) 22:53, 28 November 2016 (UTC)
 * Support per nom. -- Necrothesp (talk) 16:20, 30 November 2016 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.