Each year the National Library of Medicine updates Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), the controlled vocabulary used to index biomedical literature in the MEDLINE database and in other biomedical resources. Subject experts regularly review the list of descriptors and solicit ideas and comments from specialists throughout the biomedical community. Until 2003 a printed volume was issued annually, but now the list is only available electronically and may be searched online via the MeSH Browser.
The MeSH vocabulary has grown significantly since the first edition was issued in 1960 with 4440 headings to the current list of 23, 885 headings for 2006. This year 933 new headings were added, 138 were replaced by revised terminology, and 50 were deleted from the list.
A few 2006 highlights are presented below. Browse through the list of new headings and changes on your own for an educational (and sometimes entertaining) experience to help kick off the New Year.
Size isn't Everything…
"You say Potatoes… I say Solanum tuberosum…"
Potatoes, established as a MeSH heading in 1986, was replaced by Solanum tuberosum this year.
So, what's new about that?
Not all new MeSH headings represent "new" concepts. Can you guess which of the following IS NOT a new heading for 2006?
Abdominal Fat
Arm Bones
Beluga Whale
Crows
Gardening
ANSWER: The correct answer is Crows - that was a new MeSH heading in 2005. All of the others are new headings for 2006.
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