Have you taken a look at PubMed lately?  The folks at the National Library of Medicine have updated the PubMed interface significantly. The result is an interface which is easier to use and much more intuitive.

Probably the first thing you’ll notice is the search box (red arrow, below).  When you type a term in this box such as ribosome, suggested terms will open below (like ribosome, ribosome biogenesis, ribosome structure, etc.).

While it is possible to turn this feature off, it seems like it gives many PubMed users an easy and efficient way to see some of the major topics covered in the database.  I consider it a success when an update actually makes it easier for normal people to use an application or database.

Fear not, expert searchers!  You can still construct queries using field limits in this space and you can also open up Advanced search (circled in red above) to enjoy searching using advanced parameters and you can still monitor your search using ‘details’ and ‘preview’ (red arrows, below).   I personally love ‘details’ because it allows me to see how PubMed interpreted my query. For example, my original query of ribosome is processed as: “ribosomes”[MeSH Terms] OR “ribosomes”[All Fields] OR “ribosome”[All Fields]. Best of all, HELP is only a click away if you get stuck (circled in red below).

There are a lot of other reasons to love the new interface!  I really love the organization of the page, as it is easy to find resources to help in the use of PubMed (circled in blue), specific PubMed Tools (circled in green) and links out to other databases (red arrows, below).  The link for MyNCBI is still located in the upper right-hand corner (yellow arrows, below).  One of my favorite features of the new design is the ease at which I can find important support resources at NCBI like the Site Map, NCBI Help Manual, NCBI Handbook, and Training & Tutorials (circled in cyan).  It is easier than ever to use PubMed (and NCBI resources)!

If you have any questions about the changes to PubMed, go find a librarian to help you – they’re really the experts when it comes to searching the literature.  You can also check out these helpful tutorials below:

• Search PubMed for an Author (3 min., September 2009)
• Searching PubMed by Author and Subject (1 min., September 2009)
• PubMed Simple Subject Search (1 min., September 2009)
• Search for a Journal (3 min., September 2009)
• Webcast: 2009 PubMed Redesign (October 2009)
• PubMed training workbook (pdf)

For additional instruction on using PubMed, see the following resources:

• PubMed Basics (tri-fold handout in PDF, October 2009)
• Searching PubMed with MeSH (tri-fold handout in PDF, October 2009)
• My NCBI (tri-fold handout in PDF, October 2009)
• PubMed Training Manual available on the Training Manuals and Resources page.
• PubMed Help

Edit:

• Great blog post from Jean Song (Bioinformationista) about the new update – thanks for the tips, Jean!