Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 10:28:01 -0400

                            IRX QUERY HELP FOR OMIM
                                       
  OMIM (ONLINE MENDELIAN INHERITANCE IN MAN)
  
   OMIM is the continuously updated online version of Dr. Victor A.
   McKusick's book MENDELIAN INHERITANCE IN MAN (MIM). Because this
   knowledge-base is updated daily, the entries may differ from the most
   recently published version of the book.
   
   The text is organized into "MIM" entries, each of which is identified
   by a 6 digit MIM number. The first digit of the MIM number indicates
   the mode of inheritance:
   
     * 1 = autosomal dominant assigned before 6/27/94
     * 2 = autosomal recessive assigned before 6/27/94
     * 3 = X-linked assigned before 6/27/94
     * 4 = Y-linked assigned before 6/27/94
     * 5 = mitochondrial assigned before 6/27/94
     * 6 = all modes of inheritance assigned since 6/27/94
          
   Each MIM entry is divided into sections of text called fields. These
   fields may be used to limit a search. The fields used in OMIM are:
   
              Field ID                Contents of the field
              ========                =====================
                [no]          MIM number.

                [ti]          Title. Includes MIM number and title of entry.
                              (* = confirmed, unique mendelian locus;
                               # = general phenotypic description, etc.)

                [tx]          Text.

                [av]          Allelic variants. (Not applicable for all
                              entries.)

                [rf]          Reference(s).

                [cs]          Clinical synopsis.  Includes signs and
                              symptoms pertaining to the syndrome.
                              (Not present in the published editions,
                              and not available for all entries.)

                [ed]          Edit date.
  QUICK GUIDE TO USING IRX
  
   Using IRx is a simple, three-step procedure:
   
     * - Enter a question in plain English.
     * - Receive a list of documents which is ranked in order of expected relevance.
     * - Select documents from the list for reading or printing.
       
   IRx is designed to be a simple, fast English-like query and retrieval
   system. Users may enter English phrases, and documents are returned in
   a ranked according to relevance. For more advanced users, IRx offers
   boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) and field specific queries.
   
    Booleans
    
   Booleans "AND", "OR", and "NOT" may be used to form a complex query.
   For example, FIBROSIS NOT CYSTIC returns all entries containing the
   word "fibrosis" but not containing the word "cystic".
   
    FIBROSIS AND CYSTIC returns only entries containing both words. The
   "OR" operator is implicit in IRx searches, so the query CYSTIC
   FIBROSIS is equivalent to the query CYSTIC OR FIBROSIS. Parenthesis
   may be used to describe more complex queries such as (FIBROSIS NOT
   CYSTIC) AND CONGENITAL.
   
    Field Restrictions
    
   Field restrictions provide the facility to narrow a search to only
   specified fields. Available fields for OMIM are listed above. The
   field name following a word restricts searching for that word to the
   named field. For example, the query FIBROSIS[TI] restricts a search
   for the word "fibrosis" to the title field only. Parenthesis may be
   used to associate a field restriction with more than one word, for
   example, (CYSTIC FIBROSIS)[TI]. Finally, a complex example of combined
   booleans and field restrictions:
   
   (FIBROSIS NOT CYSTIC)[TI] AND CONGENITAL[TX]
   
    Proximity
    
   Proximity is designated by enclosing a set of words in double quotes.
   For example, "PRUNE BELLY SYNDROME". This construct matches only
   documents which contain all the enclosed words within the same field.
   
    Wild-cards and Special Characters
    
   "Wild-card" matching expands a term to a group of related words. This
   can be used as a shorthand notation to include a set of related words
   in your question, or to allow for unsure spelling. The following
   wild-card characters can be used:
   
     * * - match zero or more characters
     * # - match any single character
     * $ - match zero or one character
     * @ - matches zero characters (inhibits automatic stemming)
   
   When any of these characters are typed as part of a question term, a
   list of the words matched by the expression are displayed. You may
   select all the words or individual words to be included as part of
   your question to be processed.
   
   Note: Wild-cards appearing at the beginning of a word take a long time
   to process. It is best to use them only in the body or at the end of a
   word.