As you might have noticed when you have used PubMed in the past, there are filters at the top right corner of each search results page (see image below), which when clicked, allow you to display only a specific segment of the current search results. With a MyNCBI account, it is possible to specify which filters you would like to be available for your use on PubMed search results pages.
The following steps will take you through the procedure of adding filters (including filters to the full-text articles at WCM-Q, WCM-NY, and Cornell in Ithaca) to PubMed via your MyNCBI account.
1) Go to your MyNCBI account, and from within the "Filters" box, click on the "Manage Filters" hyperlink.
2) On the resultant page, you will see a list of any filters you already have activated. On the right side of the page, you will see an area (see image below) to search and browse for filters. By default, the most popular filter options will be listed. In the example below, the "English" and "Free Full Text" filters have been selected (be cautioned that the "Free Full Text" filter excludes those items available to you through the library and only includes text freely available through the PubMed database). Notice that as you mark the boxes next to filters, they will appear in your active filters list to the left.
You might also search for filters in categories other than "Popular" such as:
3) To add filters for full text options from the libraries at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, and Cornell University (Ithaca), first select the "LinkOut" radio button. Then, using the "Search with terms" box, run a search for the name "Cornell". In the results list, check each of the two boxes to the left of each library (you should see them appear in your active filters list to the left).
4) Now let's see your filters in action. Go to PubMed and run a search. If you have set the same filters as were shown in the images above, you should see something in the filters portion of the PubMed page similar to the following image. And to filter your results to a single one of these filters, simply click on that filter. NOTE: currently a sizable portion but NOT all of the library's journal holdings, are represented in the WCM-Q filter, so there could potentially be more full text articles available through the library than the number next to the filter indicates.
5) To manage MyNCBI filters, simply return to your MyNCBI homepage, click on the "Manage Filters" link under the "Filters" box and from there add or remove filters and turn filters off and on from your list of active filters simply by checking or unchecking the boxes next to them.
In addition to preconstructed or "canned" filters, MyNCBI makes it possible to create your own custom filters. With a bit of creative coding, one can create custom filters targeting addresses of first authors, specific search terms, articles identified by funding agency, and more. For more information on creating custom filters, see the tutorial from NCBI here or the NCBI custom filters guide here.
