Docsity
Docsity

Prepare for your exams
Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity


Earn points to download
Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan


Guidelines and tips
Guidelines and tips

Research Essentials: Finding Articles in Library Databases, Study notes of Research Methodology

How to find articles from newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals in library databases. It describes the difference between general and specialized databases and how to access them. The document also explains the benefits of electronic format and how it is more convenient for students. It is a useful guide for students who are new to using library databases.

Typology: Study notes

2022/2023

Available from 01/29/2023

CivilDeparture
CivilDeparture 🇺🇸

5 documents

1 / 2

Toggle sidebar

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

bg1
Research Essentials Week Five pt. 2 Notes
Where do I Find Articles from Newspapers,
magazines, and Scholarly Journals?
In the past (20 years or so ago), libraries collected all of these sources in paper format -
- there were whole rooms full of paper periodicals. These days, most libraries collect
these sources in electronic format and make them available through library databases.
Collecting periodicals in electronic format is not only cheaper and more space-efficient,
but also more convenient for students because you can access millions of articles from
home.
What is a Database?
In short, a database is a bag with things in it, that you can search through.
In the library context, the “things” in the database “bag” are usually
Articles from newspapers
Articles from magazines
Articles from scholarly journals
Most academic libraries have both general and specialized periodical databases. Here's
the difference, in a nutshell:
General databases
General databases are usually very large collections of newspaper, magazine, and
scholarly journal articles, on all different topics! Our two large general databases are
Academic Search Complete and ProQuest.
Each of these contain massive amounts of articles, going all the way back to the
1990's, and current up to many of today's newspapers from around the country and
around the world. So as you can imagine, if you are researching something that's a
current event, you'll likely want to search the library's general databases for newspaper
and magazine articles!
Specialized databases
Specialized databases are usually smaller collections, and only contain articles for
specialized topics. For example, we have a specialized database just for nursing that
contains only articles from nursing magazines and scholarly journals. We have a
pf2

Partial preview of the text

Download Research Essentials: Finding Articles in Library Databases and more Study notes Research Methodology in PDF only on Docsity!

Research Essentials Week Five pt. 2 Notes

Where do I Find Articles from Newspapers,

magazines, and Scholarly Journals?

In the past (20 years or so ago), libraries collected all of these sources in paper format -

  • there were whole rooms full of paper periodicals. These days, most libraries collect these sources in electronic format and make them available through library databases. Collecting periodicals in electronic format is not only cheaper and more space-efficient, but also more convenient for students because you can access millions of articles from home.

What is a Database?

In short, a database is a bag with things in it, that you can search through. In the library context, the “things” in the database “bag” are usually ● Articles from newspapers ● Articles from magazines ● Articles from scholarly journals Most academic libraries have both general and specialized periodical databases. Here's the difference, in a nutshell:

General databases

General databases are usually very large collections of newspaper, magazine, and scholarly journal articles, on all different topics! Our two large general databases are Academic Search Complete and ProQuest. Each of these contain massive amounts of articles, going all the way back to the 1990's, and current up to many of today's newspapers from around the country and around the world. So as you can imagine, if you are researching something that's a current event, you'll likely want to search the library's general databases for newspaper and magazine articles!

Specialized databases

Specialized databases are usually smaller collections, and only contain articles for specialized topics. For example, we have a specialized database just for nursing that contains only articles from nursing magazines and scholarly journals. We have a

specialized database for psychology that contains only articles from psychology-related scholarly journals. And so on.