Every Tuesday we like to feature some technology brought to you by The Ames Library and/or Information Technology Servcies. Library databases are a specific kind of technology application, that can make your life easier. Did you know that most of your access to scholarship on campus is made possible because the library subscribes to databases? So just what is a database?
Thanks to Enoch Pratt Free Library for the following:
- Library databases contain information from published works.
- Examples: Magazine and newspaper articles,encyclopedias and other reference books.
- Library databases are searchable.
- By Keywords, Subject, Author, Magazine Title, Date, etc.
- Library databases provide citation information.
- Author, if available
- Title of Article
- Publication (Title of Magazine, Newspaper, or Reference Book)
- Publisher
- Date of Publication
- Library databases often contain full-text articles.
- You can print or email an entire article.
- There are different kinds of library databases
- For specific topics. Examples: Environmental Sciences Collection
- For general topics Examples: Academic Search Complete
How is a library database different from a website?
| Library databases | Web sites |
|---|---|
| Library databases get their information from professionals or experts in the field. | Web sites can be written by anyone regardless of expertise. |
| Library databases contain published works where facts are checked. | Web site content is not necessarily checked by an expert. |
| Library databases are easy to cite in a bibliography and may create the citation for you. | Web sites often don’t provide the information necessary to create a complete citation. |
| Library databases can help you narrow your topic or suggest related subjects. | Web sites often aren’t organized to support student research needs. |
| Library databases are updated frequently and include the date of publication. | Web sites may not indicate when a page is updated. |
Ethnographic Video Online: Volume II is one databases you currently have access to as part of the IWU community. It is the second volume of the award-winning Ethnographic Video Online collection, expanding on Alexander Street’s anthropology offerings by adding 500 hours of classic and contemporary documentaries, field recordings, and previously unpublished footage from renowned anthropological archives. Have questions about using it? Ask a librarian!