LIBRARY DATABASES V. SEARCH ENGINES

A tutorial to help students know what resource to use and when.

FIRST THINGS FIRST…WHAT IS A LIBRARY DATABASE?

Organized collection of electronic information that allows a user to search for a particular topic, article, or book in a variety of ways (e.g., keyword, subject, author, title).

Contains thousands to millions of records or articles. Some databases contain the full-text of articles from

journals, magazines, and newspapers as well as books while other databases contain only citations - or - citations & abstracts.

Can be multidisciplinary (cover a variety of topics) or subject specific (e.g., business, health).

HOW CAN I ACCESS THE LIBRARY DATABASES?

Library databases are available 24/7 and can be accessed on or off-campus by logging in to http://kesu-verso.auto-graphics.com

Add this site to your Favorites. Username: Student ID# and Password:

Last four digits of your Social Security Number.

Contact your librarians for assistance.

AND WHAT DOES “PEER REVIEWED” MEAN?

Unlike general interest and trade magazines, academic journals are much more scholarly in nature and are usually published by a university or an academic society or organization.

Peer-reviewed journals (also called “refereed”) are highly valued by academic libraries because they contain articles that have been screened by an author's peers (people who work in the same field as the author).

Peer review is the accepted method for ensuring that information is of the highest quality.

Many of the library’s databases have an option to limit your results to "Peer-Reviewed” or “Refereed” publications.

You can check the Help screens of databases to find out if limiting by peer review is available and how to use this function.

EXAMPLES

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Popular, Trade or General Internet Publications

JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association

Intelligent Buildings International

Harvard Business Review Alternative Therapies in Health

and Medicine Journal of Renewable and

Sustainable Energy International Journal of Civil

Aviation

National Geographic The New York Times The Florida Sun-Sentinel Scientific American Sports Illustrated Vogue People Air Cargo World

AND ANOTHER QUESTION…CAN’T I GET THE SAME ARTICLES USING GOOGLE?

In most cases, no. Most of the information retrieved from the

web by using Internet search engines, such as Google, is free to access.

Library databases contain copyrighted, licensed, proprietary information that is not free or accessible without a subscription.

The Library pays yearly subscription fees for its databases just like it pays yearly subscription fees for its print journals, magazines, and newspapers.

LIBRARY DATABASES V. INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES

Let’s compare:

TYPES OF INFORMATION

Library Databases Internet Search Engines Scholarly journal articles Popular magazine articles Newspaper articles Reference book

selections Full text e-books Videos Case studies Clinical trials Company profiles

Few free scholarly journal and magazine articles

Few free e-books Commercial websites Social media websites Government and

organizational websites Current news &

information

WHEN TO USE

Library Databases Internet Search Engines Best for college level

research When you need to find

credible information quickly

When you have time to more carefully evaluate information from the web

When you are already familiar with the reputable source

In certain research situations using search engines may be appropriate. Contact your librarian for more information or assistance.

CREDIBILITY

Library Databases Internet Search Engines Articles and books

written by journalists or experts in a professional field

All material in databases is evaluated for accuracy and credibility by subject specialists and publishers

Reviewed and updated regularly

Shopping, & entertainment Industry news Industry standards and

organizational guidelines When you have time to

more carefully evaluate information from the web

When you are already familiar with the reputable source

CREDIBILITY

Library Databases Internet Search Engines Articles and books

written by journalists or experts in a professional field

All material in databases is evaluated for accuracy and credibility by subject specialists and publishers

Reviewed and updated regularly

Lack of control allows anyone to publish their opinions and ideas on the internet

Not evaluated (for the most part); need to carefully evaluate websites for bias, accuracy, and authority.

Many sites are not updated regularly and can become outdated.

USABILITY

Library Databases Internet Search Engines High level of organization Allows users to search for

and retrieve focused and relevant results

Can rank results by relevancy and date

Often times there is a "find similar results” feature

Can also search by subject headings

Low level of organization Less ability to search for

and retrieve precise results Returns a lot of irrelevant,

off-topic, biased, outdated, or inaccurate information

Information may be interspersed with advertisements, pop-ups, etc.

COST/ACCESSIBILITY

Library Databases Internet Search Engines Your university pays

subscription fees to have access to scholarly and up-to-date material

Accessible 24/7 from the library website

Free or low-cost monthly internet fees

Websites may link to scholarly databases allowing you to purchase articles for $15 to $30

Do not purchase without first checking to see if that same material is available from your library

CITING

Library Databases Internet Search Engines Many library databases

offer easy-to-use citation tools that will automatically generate references in APA format

For example, in ProQuest click on “Cite,” in InfoTrac click on “Citation Tools”

Your librarians can assist you with finding the citation tools within the databases

Very little if any citation assistance

Citations will have to be generated from scratch

Some reputable APA websites can assist with citations

SO, WHAT’S WRONG WITH JUST “GOOGLING” IT?

Google seems easier when you’re just starting out, and the databases seem harder. But once you become familiar with the databases, you realize it’s the opposite – Google makes you spend more time weeding through a bunch of irrelevant results.

Easier to find relevant information using the library databases. Most of the information retrieved from the Internet hasn't been

evaluated. It could be inaccurate, biased, or it might not be current. You will need to more carefully evaluate information retrieved on the Internet.

Quality of your work suffers when you rely on sources that often are not scholarly.

Authors of web sites might not have the same credentials as the authors of articles found in the library databases.

All of the articles found in the library databases have already been evaluated for accuracy and credibility by discipline-specific experts and publishers.

SO WHEN SHOULD I USE GOOGLE?

Well organized and easily accessible websites may be used for the following: To gain an introductory understanding of an idea or topic To find references to additional articles To find key phrases or search terms relating to your topic

Use it to find pertinent organizational websites (examples: American Cancer Society, U.S. Green Building Council, etc.)

Use it to find pertinent government websites (examples: U.S. Small Business Administration, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, etc.)

Use it to access scholarly articles on sites such as Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic Search, and the Directory of Open Access Journals.

WHAT ABOUT CLASS ASSIGNMENTS?

My instructor told our class we can’t use any (or only a few) Internet sources. Can I still use the library databases?

Yes. Library databases use the Internet as a delivery system but they are not thought of as ”the Internet” as they are not freely accessible or in many cases retrievable through the use of search engines.

In most cases, your instructor means that they don’t want you using web sites or web pages found on the open web through Internet search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.

Most of the published resources found in the library databases are not available on the open web.

Always clarify with your instructors what they actually mean when the class is told no (or few) Internet sources.

RESOURCES Library Website:

http://kesu-verso.auto-graphics.com Library Blogs:

http://eulibraries.wordpress.com/ http://keiserlib.wordpress.com/ http://librarlyn.wordpress.com/

Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/

Microsoft Academic Search: http://academic.research.microsoft.com/

Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.doaj.org/

CONTACT YOUR CAMPUS LIBRARIANS

FOR FURTHER ASSISTANCE.

WE’RE HAPPY TO HELP!