title: Using MeSH to search for alternatives to the use of animals in research.
abstract: Searching for alternatives to using animals in research is not a standard service currently offered by most medical research libraries. The goal of this article is to demystify this type of expert search for medical librarians and to do so using a language they know well, that of the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus. An attempt is made in this paper to discuss possible search strategies and to include examples of recommended approaches to searching-all in the context of the 3Rs of alternatives: Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction.
authors.affiliation: Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library of Columbia University, 701 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, USA. mz84@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chilov
authors.forename: Konstantina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsoukas
authors.forename: Nighat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ispahany
authors.forename: Tracy Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Joyce W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lustbader
mesh_terms: D032761:Animal Experimentation; D000818:Animals; D016206:Databases, Bibliographic; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D046650:Medical Subject Headings; D014481:United States