Search First Steps

First Steps…

Databases

OverviewOverview

Beyond Wikipedia: Databases-First Steps2

1. Databases: First Steps2. Database Searching: Basic to Expert3. Databases: Results

What’s so great about electronic information?


Accessible anytimeAccessible anywherePeer reviewed and authoritative

Public Library or College Resource Centre:Always “checked in” All locations (Branch or Campus) have

equal access


• Databases are not the internet.

• They are an electronic repository and tool for finding information.


Next slides illustrate database resources that duplicate book, newspaper and magazine collections….

1….The Ottawa Citizen2….Contemporary Literary Criticism3….Dictionary of Canadian Biography4….Opposing Viewpoints

The Ottawa Citizen in Canadian Newsstand


The same essays on the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, that were traditionally found in Contemporary Literary Criticism, can now be found in the Literature Resource Centre.

Beyond Wikipedia: Databases-First Steps 9

Dictionary of Canadian Biography


Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center


In Summary…In Summary…


Same information sourceDifferent format

Publishers of databases ….


Major Database Publishers:

Thomson Gale

ProQuest

EBSCO Host


Gale databases: common elements


Publisher identificationDatabase identificationSearch boxSearch optionsOther tools

Gale Virtual Reference Library


Health Reference Center Academic


General Reference Center Gold


……and now compare the others:

ProQuest & EBSCO Host


Where do you find the databases?



Find Articles and Research Guides:


Selecting a Database:

Databases are listed alphabetically, or grouped together by subject,

They can be limited by language.


‘In-Library Use Only’ Databases

Databases marked with the icon:

are accessible only in

the library


“Full-Text Only”

This list is a tool to determine which database to search, but...

It is index to full-text magazines and newspapers only.

It doesn’t contain titles

from which articles are

only cited or abstracted.

Beyond Wikipedia: Databases-First Steps

26

Searching the List of Magazines and Newspapers


Canadian Musician

Results:

“Canadian Musician”


And so…


now you know what the databases are, where to find them and how to choose among them.

Next up, How to search …

Search First Steps

Education

databases databases

steps databases

gale databases

publishers of databases

expert databases

overview databases

steps database searching

steps canadian musician