Choosing a Database

Choosing a Database

Introduction

Library databases are organized collections of electronic information on specific subjects. They are like supercharged search engines, designed to help you find credible and relevant sources for your research, studies, or personal curiosity. Why use library databases? Reliable information: Databases curate content from reputable sources, such as academic journals, government documents, and peer-reviewed publications. You can be confident that you're getting accurate and trustworthy information. In-depth research: Databases go beyond the surface level of the web. They provide access to specialized content that you might not find on general search engines. Powerful search tools: Databases allow you to search for information using specific keywords, filters, and even Boolean operators. This makes it easy to find exactly what you're looking for, even if you don't know the exact title or author. Multiple formats: Databases offer a variety of resources, including text, images, audio, and video. This can make your research more engaging and informative.

EBSCO

EBSCOhost is a powerful online reference system accessible via Burgess Library. It offers a variety of proprietary full text databases and popular databases from leading information providers. The comprehensive databases range from general reference collections to specially designed, subject-specific databases for public, academic, medical, corporate and school libraries. The most common EBSCO database is Academic Search Complete. The world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. going back as far as 1887.

GALE ACADEMIC ONEFILE

The premier source of peer-reviewed full-text scholarly content across the academic disciplines. With millions of articles available in both PDF and HTML full-text, Academic OneFile is both authoritative and comprehensive.

CREDO REFERENCE

Credo Reference is a research starting point for students looking for background information to inform their topic. With millions of articles pulled from hundreds of books, Credo is a general knowledge database providing articles, images, charts, maps and other materials on thousands of topics. It provides cross-searchable access to over three million entries from 273 titles and 57 publishers. It also features full-text content from hundreds of reference books covering every major subject.

JSTOR

JSTOR is a vast digital library that offers researchers and learners access to over 12 million academic articles, books, primary sources, and images. It's primarily focused on humanities and social sciences, but also includes some content in the sciences and mathematics.

PROQUEST

ProQuest is a collection of many databases that provide access to thousands of journals, magazines, newspapers, dissertations, and other publications. It provides tools for discovery and citation management, and is a platform that allow library users to search, manage, use, and share research.

FINDING THE RIGHT DATABASE

Burgess Library has access to over 130 databases. Library databases are organized collections of electronic information on specific subjects. They are like supercharged search engines, designed to help you find credible and relevant sources for your research, studies, or personal curiosity. Databases offer a variety of resources, including text, images, audio, and video. This can make your research more engaging and informative. Burgess Library has a feature that allows users to search for databases by subjects and material types.