A database is simply an index that organizes information so that you can easily access articles, journals, or books. Different databases contain different information which means that you should always look to see what kind of information is included before beginning your search.
A more famous database that most people will be familiar with is the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com). This site allows users to search for keywords including an actor name or movie title in order to find more information about each topic. Scholarly databases work the same way.
Journals, Articles, and E-books
Journals are periodicals (like magazines) that publish various people's work. Databases will search through these journals to find articles related to your search. It's as though the computer is flipping through the pages for you!
The articles that databases find come from many different journals; the database you choose will have different journals depending on the topics that the database covers. For example, Science Direct concentrates only on scientific resources - you wouldn't want to use this for an English paper. Not all of the articles that a database finds are full-text so be careful!
E-books are digital versions of books. Most of the time, someone has scanned in each page of a book so that you can access it on the computer. Encyclopedias and other, more specific reference books can be found in their entirety through a database.
What is a database?
A database is simply an index that organizes information so that you can easily access articles, journals, or books. Different databases contain different information which means that you should always look to see what kind of information is included before beginning your search.
A more famous database that most people will be familiar with is the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com). This site allows users to search for keywords including an actor name or movie title in order to find more information about each topic. Scholarly databases work the same way.
Journals, Articles, and E-books
Journals are periodicals (like magazines) that publish various people's work. Databases will search through these journals to find articles related to your search. It's as though the computer is flipping through the pages for you!
The articles that databases find come from many different journals; the database you choose will have different journals depending on the topics that the database covers. For example, Science Direct concentrates only on scientific resources - you wouldn't want to use this for an English paper. Not all of the articles that a database finds are full-text so be careful!
E-books are digital versions of books. Most of the time, someone has scanned in each page of a book so that you can access it on the computer. Encyclopedias and other, more specific reference books can be found in their entirety through a database.
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