Metasearchers in the biomedical field

An update

Abstract

The biomedical field has benefited greatly from the influx of information and communication technologies. Over the last few years, enormous strides have been made in organizing, structuring and seeking information, facilitating this task, as evidenced by the various databases and search engines. In this context, metasearchers are a powerful tool for optimizing the effectiveness of searches for scientific evidence and, therefore, represent an added value both in clinical practice as well as in the research setting. This article is aimed at healthcare workers. The purpose is to update the basic concepts about metasearchers, their generalities and the main characteristics of the most outstanding ones in the biomedical field.