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  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 DatabasesInternet 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 DatabasesInternet 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 DatabasesInternet 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 DatabasesInternet 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 DatabasesInternet 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 DatabasesInternet 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 DatabasesInternet 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:  Library Blogs:  Google Scholar:  Microsoft Academic Search:  Directory of Open Access Journals:

CONTACT YOUR CAMPUS LIBRARIANS FOR FURTHER ASSISTANCE. WE’RE HAPPY TO HELP!