SumSearch

http://sumsearch.uthscsa.edu/

To browse other articles on a range of HSL topics, see the wiki index.

Introduction

See also PubMed - MEDLINE and TRIP Database

SumSearch http://sumsearch.uthscsa.edu/ is a meta-search tool developed at the University of Texas Health Center (San Antonio). It is designed to retrieve articles and research from a range of evidence-based information sources and employs a way of collating evidence by using meta- and contingency (backup) searching. When SS finds too many "hits", it executes secondary restrictive, contingency searches in the databases. When ~1000 articles are found in PubMed, SS performs additional searches (up to four) until more optimal numbers can be presented. When it finds fewer hits, it may add searches of secondary sites. For example, when the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE) provides too few systematic reviews, SS will add a search in Medline. Recently, SS started to display results from Wikipedia, the world's general online editable encyclopedia.

Interface

At the search screen, enter one word at one time. SumSearch organizes your search terms on the right window and trawls various websites in a logical order. The search engine returns a single, digestible document which removes the burden of remembering details such as which sites truncate with the dollar sign and how to execute a limit for the AIM journals if too many articles are found. One of the persistent criticisms of SUMSearch is that the site's response time is slow.

SumSearch queries Internet sites that contain evidence written by qualified health professionals. Most links in SumSearch come from three sites - the National Library of Medicine (NLM), DARE, and the National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC). All three are government-sponsored and have limited biases due to no conflicts of interest. It might be said that the selection of journals, systematic reviews, and practice guidelines that are included in SumSearch are validated by the NLM, DARE, and NGC, respectively. SumSearch uses validated search filters as much as possible which have been developed by various researchers to optimally search for certain types of articles. SUMSearch is widely-seen as useful in quickly aggregating medical evidence. However, it should not be used as a replacement for doing proper literature reviews. SUMSearch suffers from poor visibility compared to Google, Yahoo and Bing, and its response times can be very slow during high traffice periods. However, SUMSearch is useful for retrieving information from reviews and guidelines and includes content from wikis. Finally, the question of why physicians would use it over PubMed has not been satisfactorily answered.

References

• Booth A. Netting the evidence: finding pearls, not sewage. Singapore Med J 2006;47(12):1023.
• Booth A, O’Rourke AJ. SUMSearch and PubMed. Evid Based Med. 2000; 5:71.
• Badgett R, Paukert J, Levy L. The evolution of SUMSearch for teaching clinical informatics to third-year medical students. Academic Med 2001;76:541.
• Crom V. SUMSearch. J Med Libr Assoc. 2007 October; 95(4): 471–473.
• Haase A, Follmann M, Skipka G, Kirchner H. Developing search strategies for clinical practice guidelines in SUMSearch and Google Scholar and assessing their retrieval performance. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2007 Jun 30;7:28.