In this section, you'll find help with:A library database is a tool that collects and organizes information so that we can find it more easily. Databases contain records for articles from newspapers, magazines, trade journals, and academic journals, as well as records for other items such as videos, conference proceedings, dissertations, book chapters, and more. A database record contains citation information for articles and other items, and may also point to the full text of the resource. Most databases will have the full-text for some items, but not for others. Some databases are entirely full-text; others have none at all.
Databases can be general and cover many subjects or focus on specific subjects or types of resources. Deciding which database to search depends on what kind of research you’re doing.
There are several ways to get to relevant databases. The table below will help you get your bearings and find a path that works for your research.
All Databases List |
An alphabetical list of all of the databases we have access to. It can be sorted by subject and by the type of source you're looking for. |
Link: https://libguides.uj.edu/az.php |
Research Guides |
Resource suggestions and search tips by subject. Guides exist for each major and program on campus, plus a few more! Useful databases are in the "Find Articles" section of a Guide. |
Link: https://libguides.uj.edu |
When you search Google, do you type in a full-sentence question? No shame - it works there because Google has a sophisticated algorithm that can parse through your question to find the most important words, search with those terms, and ditch the rest. Google even corrects your spelling and searches what it thinks you mean based on your search history.
Library databases, however, can't do that.
Instead, you have to do the first step of parsing out the most important words yourself - which is to say, you'll have to develop keywords. Keywords are search terms that are the most essential words in your research question, topic, or thesis statement.
Developing Keywords:Watch this quick video and click on each heading below to learn more about some useful search strategies. As you search, try a few of these strategies at the same time! These strategies can help you create complex, specific searches and gather focused information on your topic.
Video posted on YouTube by Virginia Tech Libraries under a Creative Commons license.
To search for a phrase in which word order matters, put quotation marks (" ") around your search terms.
Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT can help you combine and exclude terms from your searches. They're used directly in a database's search bar, between your keywords.
Some databases will have multiple search boxes so that you can split up your search terms and select a Boolean operator from a drop-down menu to combine the terms.
Remember Venn Diagrams? They're a great way to visualize what the Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT can do for your research.
You can combine phrase searching and more than one Boolean operator to make complex, specific searches.
Placing parentheses () around your search terms is a way to group concepts and tell the database exactly what order to use when processing your search. It's just like the idea of order of operations in mathematics.
As you browse the catalog or a database and find a resource that looks promising, look for hyperlinked subjects, also called subject headings. These subject headings can be found in the detailed record for an article--what you get to when you click on a title from your search results list.
This strategy involves tracking down the sources that an article (or any piece of information) cites, or following a citation chain. This strategy is a great example of why it's important to cite your sources - citations help your readers find information that is similar or crucial to your own arguments. When you find an article or source that is relevant to your research, take a look at the sources they're citing!
Check out these video tutorials for the three major database platforms we use at UJ: EBSCO, ProQuest, and Gale:
Basic Search tutorial for EBSCOhost databases such as Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, and ERIC.
Basic search tutorial for ProQuest databases such as PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and US Newsstream.
A quick overview of some features of Gale databases such as Academic OneFile and Literature Resource Center.
