| A Database is a collection of information stored in an electronic format, that can be searched by a computer. |
Quite often, students search a database to find journal articles. Databases can also contain:
conference proceedings, technical reports, book reviews, theses, dissertations, and other types of information.
Some databases are fulltext, which means you can find the fulltext of your articles or other documents. Other databases are citation databases only, which means they give you citation information about your article, etc., and quite often links to fulltext, but don't contain fulltext within the database.
Databases can be general in nature and cover many different subjects. Or, databases can be subject specific, with information focused on certain subjects.
Some general databases are: EBSCO Academic Search Premier, CBCA Complete, Credo Reference, JSTOR, Research Library.
Subject specific databases at the Dalhousie Libraries include: Agriculture & Environmental Science, Anthropological Index Online, Biological Abstracts, Compendex (Engineering Village), Econlit, Food Science and Technology Abstracts, Historical Abstracts, Naxos Music Library, Opera in Video, Philosopher's Index, IEEE/IEE Electronic Library, The Avery Index (Architecture).
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It is a very good idea to use a variety of sources and a variety of formats of information when you are doing research. Do not rely on a single book or a single journal article, but verify and evaluate the information you find by using different books, different articles, and even add in sources like newspapers, encyclopedias, conference proceedings, DVDs, and theses. We have many, many different formats and types of information available for you at the Dalhousie Libraries!
This page gives you more information about books, journals, and research databases. |
Books, sometimes also called texts or monographs, are relatively lengthy works, often on a single topic. They may be print or electronic.
Search for books using the Library catalogue, called Novanet. The Novanet search box can be found on the Libraries' homepage: libraries.dal.ca
The words journal, serial, and periodical are often used to refer to the same type of resource -- a publication that is issued on a regular schedule, for example every week (like Newsweek), every month (like National Geographic), or every year (like the Annual Review of Anthropology).
Journals can be popular (like People, Psychology Today), or scholarly/academic. Scholarly or academic journals are collections of articles written by professors, researchers, or experts in a given field.
If articles in a journal undergo a review process by other experts in a particular field of study, prior to publication, these articles are known as peer-reviewed.
Peer-reviewed journal articles go through a checking or verification process before they are published. Other experts in the same field of study as that of the article, examine the article's content to make sure it is valid and correct before the article is published. Articles that have gone through this validation process are known as peer-reviewed articles.
This is a visual image of the peer-review process:
https://ucsd.libguides.com/CAT3/peerreview
You can search to see if the Dalhousie Libraries has access to a certain database by using the search box on the Libraries' homepage:
If you need help deciding which database to use for your research, a good place to start is with the Subject Guide for your specific program or area of study. Most guides have a tab for databases or finding journal articles.