Overview

You may search either the MerckSource website or MedlinePlus® on the Web (which is an external medical search engine from the National Library of Medicine). Your MerckSource Search automatically also populates the MedlinePlus® search query box to make it easy to extend your search to MedlinePlus® with one click.

Getting Started

Locate the search box above the main navigation tabs at the top of the MerckSource homepage. Enter words, phrases or sentences into the search box and click “Search.” (Note: If you don't select a specific area or resource, the entire site will be searched.).

Search Results Page

The Search Results Page contains returned information from the search terms you entered. You will find your results within the Title and Description area. This area will return content from the Interactive Human Atlas, Health Centers, Health News, You and Your Doctor and The Merck Manual—Home Edition. The Resource area will indicate the kind of content returned. Search results will be sorted based on relevancy.

If there is a misspelling in the term you entered, the search will return the properly spelled term. For instance, you may see “You asked for: diabets” above the result, but find the correct answers for “diabetes” in the results.

When using common words such as “the”, the results will tell you that “We did not use the following common words: (term) under the phrase “You asked for:”

The number of results returned will be noted in the “Showing results 1-25 of 50” area. Navigate to additional result pages using the <<Previous 25 Results and Next 25 Results>> links.

Icons after the title in the main search results area will tell you the kind of content returned – Animations, Images (Blausen animations, Virtual Body Tours, ADAM illustrations, Merck Manual), PDF, Document, Tools (registered users only) lock icon, Audio, and Photography. There is an icon legend at the bottom of the main results page.

Spanish results are available by entering keywords or search terms into the search engine in Spanish. MerckSource has many useful health articles available in Spanish.

When searching for the definition of a term, a glossary at the top of the search results will show the Dorland's medical dictionary definition. If an exact match is not found, possible dictionary entries will be included in the Refine Your Search section.

Images and Animations can be found in your search by entering your search terms and then looking on the right side of the search results page for the “Refine Your Search” box. You can click on the Images and Animations link there and it will narrow your search only to those images and animations relevant to your search term. You can also narrow your search to other types of content by using this feature.

Scoping and Narrowing Results and finding related search terms and results can be achieved by clicking in your search term and then going to the search results page. On the right side of the search results page you can find the “Related Terms” box. This feature contains related content that is relevant to your search term and will assist you in navigating complex medical information on diseases and conditions. Simply click on one of the related terms and you will be taken to a search results page that contains links to that related information to your search.

Search Tips

Make your search as specific as possible to return the most accurate results. For example, try “What are the symptoms of an ear infection” rather than “infection”

To get an exact match, use quotation marks (" ") around words that are part of a phrase. For example, type "breast cancer" to get results with that exact phrase.

To include words, use a plus sign (+) to specify words that must appear in the results. For example, type arthritis + seniors or cancer + environment to get results that include all words.

To exclude words, use a minus sign (-) to specify words that should not appear in the results. For example, type cholesterol - hypertension to get results that mention cholesterol but not hypertension.

Use a capital OR between words to find results with equal importance.

Search Features

Additional Information appears on the top of the right hand search area and contains results within Condition Guides and Health Centers (by demographic) based on your search phrase or words.

Related Terms show synonyms or narrows or broadens results of your search term.

Refine Your Search via the links on the right of the page. This area will help you narrow your results by clicking on one of the links. Refinement categories include Condition Guides, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Spanish (not familiar with this), Forms, Health News, Health References, Images and Animations and Health Tools.

You can also narrow your results by entering additional text in the Search box on the Search Results page, and then checking the box “within current results”. If you do not check “within current results”, you will begin a new search.

MedlinePlus® search on the left navigation of the MerckSource home page and the right navigation on the search results page allows you to perform an external search of the MedlinePlus® site, a service of the National Library of Medicine.

Search Help is located on the top of the search results page and provides tips and suggestions for helping you get better results.

Advanced Search allows you to be more specific with your search by searching all of the words entered, searching for the exact phrase entered, or searching using any of the words you entered. Each of these options will return different results.

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