1. Starting your Research by Choosing Databases

2. Which databases to use depends on: What’s available that’s relevant Where you are and what resources are available locally I.e., how important is it for you to have electronic text of articles available? How much time you have until the project is due Do you have time to request and get articles through Interlibrary Loan?

3. Choose databases through the Libraries’ home page

4. There are lists of databases under each subject link

5. You may wish To consult a librarian at the University Libraries about which databases are best for your project Call 479-575-6645 or Our “800” number- 866-818-8115 E-mail refer@uark.edu For assistance

6. Most Databases Will ask for a login, usually your last name and University ID number. Type in the number, without an initial “P” or other letter. See Remote Access instructions on the Libraries’ home page Call us if you have trouble.

7. The databases that you’ll need depend on: What your project is How long you have to work on it What kinds of sources you require

8. Ebscohost and ProQuest Direct Are two interdisciplinary databases that have a lot of articles in electronic text. They may be a good place for you to start. There are links to both databases under “Top Ten” at the Libraries’ homepage.

10. The “About” links describe the range of materials in each database.

11. If you are working on a specific subject, and wish to use a subject- specific database… Use “Electronic Resources and Databases” to get to a list of databases by subject. Or, if you know the title of the database, such as ERIC, or Agricola, type that title into the Resource Finder box on the Libraries’ home page.

12. This is the list under the Education link.

13. From there, you’ll need to make choices Do you need journal articles? Do you need electronic text? In other words, how many articles of what quality How soon?

14. For example… EBSCOhost will provide some articles in electronic full text for education topics But you would also want to search ERIC for education reports and other citations to articles-- Look for call numbers or check in InfoLinks to see if we own the journals in question.

15. For nursing-- CINAHL is an important index; it’s available through Ebscohost, but it will index different journals than their “Health Source Nursing” does. Ebscohost Health Source Nursing Academic has some electronic text but indexes fewer journals than CINAHL

16. You might use all of these, and possibly others… CINAHL [Cumulated Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature] Ebscohost Health Source Nursing Cochrane Library MedLine PsycInfo to make a comprehensive search of the nursing literature.

17. Each subject area has more than one database And some databases are more useful for a particular topic than others For example, America History and Life is “A comprehensive source for U.S. and Canadian political, social, diplomatic, and economic history. Indexes and abstracts articles from over 2,500 journals as well as books, book reviews, theses, and dissertations.” But it doesn’t cover Asian or European history, and Historical Abstracts doesn’t cover the United States in much detail. The “About” links help, here. Consult a librarian for more help.