Research Unbound: A Library Orientation for Transfer, Upper-Division, and Graduate Students

What is a Database?

Before we talk specifically about research databases, let's start by understanding the term database.

In simple terms, a database is a collection of information. You use databases all the time without even thinking about it:

• IMDB.com, the Internet Movie Database, is a database of information about movies and television
• When you search Amazon.com, you are searching its internal databases for product information
• Libraries provide their users access to subscription research databases, such as JSTOR, which are collections of scholarly information. Each fulfills a specific purpose.

For practice, try searching in these three resources with the same keyword, such as 'Batman', and see how the results differ based on the resource chosen.

While virtually any website you search functions as a database, the library subscribes to many research databases - these are focused on academic resources for specific scholarly disciplines. Just as we found in searching IMDB, Amazon, and JSTOR, searching different academic databases yields different results.

For instance, examine the search results for "academic achievement" "social media" "college students" in three different subject-specific databases:

Academic Search Complete

JSTOR

ERIC

All three of these databases will provide information related to the keywords inputted into the search box. However, you get the most focused and current results. ERIC is a database focused on education, so this makes sense.