Searching Using Index Terms

Natural Product Updates Online has 5 types of index entries:

• NON-PLANT SOURCES
• TAXONOMIC NAMES
• BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY
• COMPOUND CLASS
• NATURAL PRODUCTS

These indexes may be searched by free text. The content of these  indexes is the same as that in the printed version of Natural Product Updates. A search for a term in one field will only find matches for the term in that chosen field and will not search any other field.

If you enter text in more than one of the Index Terms boxes, the search results will only contain records that match all of your criteria, unless you change the Boolean searching between fields box at the bottom of the search screen from AND  to OR. This will result in the search returning results that match any of the criteria.

Wildcards and Boolean Operators

• Words, parts of words, or phrases, including numerics, may be entered in the index text boxes.
• Boolean operators (and, or, not) may also be used in any of the text entry boxes
• Special characters are not searchable  

The use of wildcards when searching the database is not necessary as both left and right truncation is implied in a search.

For example, using the Search all fields text box and entering: Cataly will retrieve records which include the word catalysis, catalyzed, catalysed and catalyst

Similarly, entering: oselect  will retrieve records containing the words enantioselective, regioselective, stereoselective, chemoselective, and diastereoselective.

Free-text searches can be combined with text entered in any of the other text entry boxes on the search screen.  Text entered in a given text entry box searches the content of that specified field only. If text is entered in more than one of the text boxes an default logical AND connects the text in each of the text entry boxes when a search is performed. This can be changed to a logical OR by using the drop-down list in the Boolean Searching Between Fields box at the bottom of the Search Screen.

For example: If coral is entered in the Non-plant source text box, and alkaloid is entered in the Compound Class text box, with the Boolean searching between fields set to the default AND, then only records which contain coral in the Non-plant source field, and alkaloid in the Compound Class field will be retrieved.

However, if the same search is repeated with the Boolean searching between fields set to OR, then any records containing coral in the Non-plant source field OR alkaloid in the Compound Class field will be retrieved.