 Using Online Databases

What are Scholarly Databases?  Professionals in various fields conduct scientific research and publish their research to share their ideas with other professionals and people  Their articles are published in professional newsletters, periodicals, and scholarly journals. Scholarly journals are specific publications dedicated to research in a certain field  Often – but not all the time - to be published in a journal, the article has to be reviewed by a groups of peers – other professionals. It must be accepted as good research.

What are Scholarly Databases?  Scholarly databases are collections of the citations and full texts of the journal articles, collections of legal documents, and professional information like business profiles.  These databases are searchable by keywords for subjects, authors, titles, business name, case number, etc.  By selecting certain limiters you are able to find specific and professional information written by experts in the field

What kind of information can you find in a scholarly database?  Newspaper Articles  Magazine Articles  Newsletters  Scholarly Research (articles, case studies, etc.)  Collections of citations (bibliographies)  Business profiles  Law cases  Documents about economic

How do you find the information?  Be sure you know what you are looking for. For example, do you need a newspaper article, or a scholarly article?  Be sure you know which database you need to use. Make sure you are familiar with the databases your library offers.  You will need to use keywords to find the information.

 Using Keywords to Search Online

Keyword Searching  Information is made up of words  Information is organized by records – and these records are organized by keywords  You can think about keywords as significant words

Boolean Searching  OR : instructs the database to find information containing BOTH search terms EXAMPLE: cars OR automobiles  AND : instructs the database to only find information containing BOTH search terms EXAMPLE: mosquitos AND malaria  NOT : instructs the database to only find results that do NOT contain a certain word EXAMPLE: Titanic NOT movie

Gale Academic One File and CINAHL Video Tutorials  For students in the health science, you will use either CINAHL or Academic One File to find a research article on your topic.  Students who are studying business or paralegal studies may find some use from the Gale database, but will most likely have success with Lexis Nexis (see next slide)  Please watch these videos in the order they are posted and then proceed to the forum to complete an activity.     

Lexis Nexis Videos  For paralegal students and business students please use Lexis Nexis.  Lexis Nexis has made some of its own great videos. I recommend you watch the following: Introduction:  Finding a news case:  Finding a company profile:  Comparing companies: