Changes to MeSH Terminology
Recent MeSH Changes (and why they matter)
Jill O'Neill, Director of Content, here at NISO tweeted out awareness of these changes:
What's New in MeSH - National Institutes of Health (NIH) https://t.co/jCcIvZ0uBd via @nuzzel
— Jill ONeill (@jillmwo) November 16, 2020
But medical librarian,Tracey Shields, offered a thread about the changes and what they entailed, specifically noting that awareness of these changes aid professionals with "disambiguation and findability, along with how it might impact the Automatic Term Mapping".
Changes to MeSH terminology for 2021 are posted!!! https://t.co/EgEwK1ZCWO
— Tracy Shields (@tcshields) November 16, 2020
I went looking for something else, saw this page had been updated on 02 Nov (!!). Time to drop everything and look at what's there. You know what that means... #medlibs thread incoming!
We've included some useful clips from her thread below:
Lots of new terms surrounding COVID, including some indirect ones, like Anosmia[mh]. Also MeSH terms: COVID-19 Vaccines; COVID-19 Testing; COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing; COVID-19 Serological Testing; lots for Coronavirus proteins.
— Tracy Shields (@tcshields) November 16, 2020
Terminology not related to COVID-19 include:
> Digital Technology (hi MeSH, welcome to 2021)
— Tracy Shields (@tcshields) November 16, 2020
> Disease Hotspot (very pandemic-y)
> Drug Elimination Routes
> Drug Tapering
> Emotional Abuse (under Social Problems... really?)
> Financial Stress
and
> Functional Status
— Tracy Shields (@tcshields) November 16, 2020
> Gender Equity (!!!)
> Gender Role
> Glycemic Control (under Therapeutics)
> Heart Disease Risk Factors
> Hemorrhagic Stroke
> High Reliability Organizations
> HIV Testing (another "how is this new?!")
Shields also notes:
There are some preferred term changes that I want to note. (https://t.co/u2fDjB6DTU)
— Tracy Shields (@tcshields) November 16, 2020
Alaska Natives > Alaskan Natives
C diff: Clostridium difficile > Clostridiodes difficile
Mentally Disabled Persons > Persons with Mental Disabilities
Social Distance > Psychological Distance
as well as:
A few more new MeSH terms, potentially loaded:
— Tracy Shields (@tcshields) November 16, 2020
> Freedom of Movement (contrast with Deportation)
> Freedom of Religion pic.twitter.com/mJCmHVeBjO
Follow Tracey on Twitter (@tcshields). The original announcement from the National Library of Medicine may be found here.