Veterinary Medicine

CAB Direct (formerly CAB Abstracts and Global Health)

CAB Direct is the primary veterinary and agriculture database. CAB Direct now also includes CAB Abstracts and Global Health. With over 13 million records available, it is an extensive resource for applied life sciences, veterinary sciences, and agriculture.

CAB Direct is accessed via your K-State eID and password.

One-on-one training on how to use CAB Direct, the CAB Direct Thesaurus, and other search strategies are available via appointment with Andi Parrish. Please schedule an appointment here. 

CAB Direct Thesaurus

The thesaurus is a databank of essential, standardized terminology used by CAB Direct to classify the subjects in a specific, accurate, and concise way. There are over 3 million terms included in the thesaurus. It is multi-lingual and also contains both American and British spelling variants that map back to the same search results. 

To access:

1. On the home screen, select "Advanced search" located right of the search field.
2. On the top right side of the screen, select "Thesaurus." 
3. A pop-out window will appear with the thesaurus.

To use:

1. Type the word you are looking for in the "Search Thesaurus:" field located at the top left of the screen.
2. Select the orange arrow to conduct a search.
3. If the term comes up and it is italicized:
   1. This term is the non-preferred term. 
   2. Select the italicized term and then scroll down to "preferred term" to get the term that CAB Direct has standardized.
4. If the term comes up and it is not italicized:
   1. This term is the preferred term.
   2. You may use this term in your searches.

Search Methodologies

Searches in CAB Direct are much more user friendly than some other databases. Often, finding the preferred term in the thesaurus is enough to conduct a decent search. With some words, including additional synonyms is pertinent, but it is less common than in PubMed.

Spelling is important! While CAB Direct does not distinguish between the American and British spelling variants, it does matter how you spell a word. If something is misspelled, the database will not offer any solutions for correction.

Boolean operators are pertinent! Like with other databases, CAB Direct relies on Boolean logic to ensure the correct results are populated.

Less variation, however! Unlike PubMed, changing from the singular (i.e. dog) to the plural (i.e. dogs) does not change the outcome of the search results. However, synonyms change the results drastically (e.g. "canine" populates about 65,000 whereas "dog" populates roughly 249,000 articles).

Conducting a Search

1. Open the CAB Direct Thesaurus.
   
2. Enter a search term into the "Search Thesaurus" field.
3. Select the orange arrow.
4. If your term is italicized:
   1. Click on the term to open a full list of words associated with your search term. 
   2. Find the "preferred term" and copy the term over to your search field on CAB Direct's main search screen.
      
5. If your term is not italicized:
   1. This term is the preferred term. Copy the term over into CAB DIrect's main search screen.
6. On the main search screen, search for each individual term, disregarding results.
7. Once all terms are entered and searched, click on "Search history" located beneath the search field.
8. Check the boxes next to any similar terms.
9. Check the radial dial next to "Or" on the top right of the search term box and select "combine." 
10. Click on "Search history" to go back to the search history screen.
11. Repeat the last step until all similar terms are combined.
12. Check the boxes next to all unlike terms.
13. Check the radial dial next to "And" on the top right of the search term box and select "combine." 
    

Saving a Search

1. Click on "Search history" under the search field.
2. Check the box next to the search you would want to save.
3. Click the "save" icon located at the top of the search term field.
4. Log in if you have not already done so.
5. Select "ok" on the dialog box that pops up saying you have (#) searches saved.
6. You can recall any of your searched saves by going into your "My Searches" and the "Saved searches" link.