1. Unit 5 Commercial Databases

2. Can You Find an Answer? n Connect to Social Sciences Abstracts n Search: u Cold war (keyword): ______ items u Cold war (title):______ items u Cold war (subject):______ items u Cold war (subject) and full-text:______ items u Combine cold war (subject) and national security (keyword): ______ items national security (keyword): ______ items How many items from last______ items search are in Feinberg Library?

3. Unit 5: Commercial Databases n What they are n What they contain n Which one to use? n Searching in databases n Search results n Where are the articles? n Commercial databases and search engines

4. What Is a Commercial Database? n Database and search engine n Search interface n Copyrighted materials n Access only by paid subscription

5. What Do They Contain? n Most commercial databases contain u Magazine, journal, or newspaper articles n Some databases include u Documents, reports, research studies n Few commercial databases contain u Books (except for WORLDCAT) n Records in databases are of three kinds u Citations, Abstracts, Full-text

6. Citation Database n Record “cites” essential information u Author, title, publication name, pages, volume. year n Enough information to find source (print, microfilm, online)

7. Abstract Database n Citation “plus” u Brief summary of article n Purpose of abstracts u Help you determine relevancy u Eliminate irrelevant, speed up research u Abstract cannot be used, quoted in place of full-text reference

8. Full-Text Database n Citation, abstract “plus” u Full text of article online u Graphics, charts n Most databases contain citations and abstracts – but many now are full-text also n Although not all databases are full-text, many provide links to full-text articles

9. Which One to Use? n General database u Covers all subjects u Good for popular, less professional research u InfoTrac, Readers’ Guide, ArticleFirst n Discipline database u Covers several related subjects u Good for more in-depth, scholarly research u Social Sciences Abstracts

10. Which One to Use? n Subject database u Covers one field only u Best for most in-depth, scholarly research u Psychological Abstracts n Check what the database contains F Journal, magazine, newspaper articles? F Books? F Other kinds of research? F What years are covered? Is it good for research from the past?

11. Articles on “Outsourcing” Which Database? n Magazines and journals u General database F Readers’ Guide, Infotrac, Proquest n Scholarly journals u Discipline database F Social Sciences Abstracts (covers business) u Subject database F ABI Inform

12. Which Database? n Use Library’s web page u Alphabetical listing A-Z u Subject listing by fields u Full-text database choices

13. Searching in Databases n Keyword u Your own words for a topic n Subject u Discover topic words used by the system n Field u Search for words in title, subject, abstract, author, date fields n Boolean u Combine words with AND, OR

14. Keyword Searching n Computer looks for words in all or several fields of record u General Science Abstracts F Vegetarians n Has potential for many hits n Good way to start a search

15. Field Searching n Looks for words in a specified part of a record (field) u Title u Abstract u Author u Subject, Descriptor F Terms used by database system for topics

16. Boolean Searching Boolean Searching Using And, OR Boolean Searching Boolean Searching Using And, OR n Words can be input as keywords or as field searches n Combines words to expand or reduce search results u Vegetarians OR vegans u Vegetarianism AND nutrition

17. Search Results n Full-text u Print, email, read online n Citations, abstracts u Check Journals A-Z – read online Journals A-ZJournals A-Z u Check library print copy, photocopy n Not online, not in the library? u Use Interlibrary Loan online and order

18. Commercial Databases and Search Engines n Scholarly research in copyrighted journals and magazines u Use commercial databases F Assures quality, in-depth research materials n Free, non-copyrighted information u Use search engines, directories F Valuable information from government, business, organizations, institutions, individuals F Quality, depth NOT ASSURED, left to you

19. Answers n Connect to social sciences abstracts n Search: u Cold war (keyword): 2,740+ items u Cold war (title):890+ items u Cold war (subject):200+ items u Cold war (subject) and full-text 6+ items u Combine cold war (subject) and National security (keyword): 16 items National security (keyword): 16 items How many items from last5 items Search are in Feinberg library?

20. Homework n Online library catalog u Field searching n Selecting best databases for topics n Using AND, OR, and field searching in Readers’ Guide Abstracts and Expanded Academic ASAP (full-text) databases n TILT – module 2 TILT – module 2 TILT – module 2