My NCBI (formerly Cubby) provides a way to:
- Save and rerun search strategies.
- Have saved searches updated automatically, with the results e-mailed to you.
- Filter search results using, for example, publication type, age group, language, and more
- Link search results to other resources, such as other Entrez databases, HSDB, etc.
- Permanently save citations
How to Start
- Go to PubMed
- Click on "My NCBI" in the PubMed sidebar, left side of screen. Your web browser must be set to accept cookies in order to use My NCBI.
- Login, or login after registering
- - User names and passwords are case sensitive
- - You can enter a security word to remind you of your password if you forget it
- - You may change your password (but not your user name) at any time. Click on "Change Password" on the My NCBI sidebar
- You remain logged on to My NCBI until you close your browser or log off. If you click the "Keep me signed in unless I sign out" checkbox, a permanent cookie is created, so after you sign in My NCBI will be indefinitely available from your computer without signing in again.
Storing a Search in My NCBI
- Begin by running or rerunning your search in Pubmed. Use the terms and limits necessary for your topic. Note: Links to "related articles" and history numbers should not be stored in My NCBI, and dates and date ranges are not recommended for stored searches.
- Click "Save Search" to the right of the search box. Enter your User ID and password or register, unless you are already logged on to My NCBI. You will now be given the option to receive automatic e-mail updates of your search. You can select the frequency with which you receive these updates. If you select this option, follow the on-screen instructions for receiving e-mail updates. Make sure that the "Maximum number of items to send" drop-down menu is set to the maximum number of refrences you wish to receive in an e-mail message.
- You can also now name your search. It is recommended to use a short name for the search - one that is pertinent to the search topic or purpose.
- Click "OK".
- You can store up to 100 searches per User ID, and you can create as many User IDs and Passwords as you wish.
- Stored searches cannot be edited, but they can be reviewed and deleted. The date and time indicated shows when the search was last updated.
How to Rerun a Stored My NCBI Search
- To see all citations from the original search plus any new citations, log on to My NCBI, then click on the search name.
How to See What's New
- Keep in mind that My NCBI will automatically send you e-mails with the new citations from your stored search(es) at the frequency you have chosen. The instructions below are in case you want to see what's new for a search before you get the scheduled e-mail.
- To get the citations for articles added to PubMed since the last time you ran your search, click the check box(es) next to the My NCBI Search Name(s) you want to update.
- My NCBI allows you to update more than one search at a time. To select all searches, click the "Select/Deselect All" check box, located at the bottom of the page.
- Click the "What's New for Selected" button, located at the bottom of the page. My NCBI responds by displaying a column indicating the number of new items found, i.e., "23 new items." My NCBI shows "0 new," if no new items are found.
- Click on the "number new" link to view the new items. The new items will display and My NCBI will be updated with a new date and time for that search.
- PubMed has information on how to e-mail citations, and how to save your search results as text file. If you are using ProCite®, EndNote®, or a similar product to store your citations, you will need to save them in MEDLINE format, making sure the file extension is .txt.
Deleting Stored Searches
- Click the check box next to the My NCBI Search Name of the search you want to delete.
- Click the "Delete Selected Searches" button, located at the bottom of the page.
Reviewing Information About Stored Searches
- Mouse over the My NCBI Search Name to see the search strategy of a stored search.
- By clicking on the Search Name, you can view the entire search results without date limits. This will not affect the Date/Time of your last update.
Saving Search Results and Bibliographies in Collections
- Sign in to My NCBI if you have not already done so.
- Run a PubMed search, and then on the results page select the items you want to save using the check boxes; if you do not select any items all results up to 500 items will be sent to Collections.
- In the Send to menu, choose Collections.
- On the Save Collection pop-up window you may enter a collection name and create a new collection, or append to an existing collection.
NOTE: Your Web browser will need to allow pop-ups from NCBI Web pages to use collections.
Searching for Articles within a Specific Date Range
You can retrieve articles that were entered into PubMed between any dates you choose: - Enter your search statement into the PubMed search box. You can copy and paste your My NCBI search, which is obtainable by using the method detailed above.
- Surround the entire search statement with parentheses
- After the close parenthesis, add the following:
- AND (YYYY/MM/DD [edat] : YYYY/MM/DD [edat])
- The first YYYY/MM/DD is the beginning of the desired date range, the second is the end of this range
- Click on "Go"
Creating Filters to Group Search Results by Area of Interest
The OEHHA PubMed URL already filters search results so you can see which articles are available to you online. You can create other filters as well.
- Go to PubMed and sign into My NCBI using your User Name and Password
- On the blue sidebar, click Filters
- Scroll down to "To set up your preferred filters, first choose a database:" and click PubMed
- Click on the Browse tab
- Links: Select this to set up links to other NCBI databases. You can get to the record in the other database by choosing it under the Links link on the right side of the PubMed record
- Properties: The selections here mostly correspond to what you see under the Limits tab on the regular PubMed screen. So, for example, if you are primarily interested in articles on a particular age group, select the appropriate filter and all such citations will be displayed under a tab
- LinkOut: Using one of these selections will show links to outside (non-NCBI) resources from PubMed citations
- Select any LinkOut, Properties, or Links item, and check the boxes to add a tab and/or link icon
- Run a PubMed search, and take a look at the results under your new tab
- In the My NCBI filters area, you can click on the My Selections link to see what filters you have selected
Need Help?
- Contact a librarian at the Public Health Library, 510-642-2510.
- PubMed Help: My NCBI, from the PubMed Help book, has more detailed instructions.
- My NCBI Workbook, from the National Library of Medicine. Detailed instructions with lots of screen shots.
- My NCBI Quick Tours, animated tutorials on My NCBI, from the National Library of Medicine.
Go to the Special Services Home Page 