Research Databases: The Alternative to the Web

The World Wide Web has made a radical difference in providing access to information quickly and broadly. However, not all information is available on the web, and of the information that is on the web, not all of it is free or reliable. One example of information that lives on the web but costs a substantial amount of money to provide is the information found in the research databases that BGSU Libraries subscribes to. What are research databases? For the most part, our research databases help you locate articles on a particular topic and increasingly link you to full-text electronic copies of articles--in other words, articles you can access and print from your computer’s desktop.

Selecting a Research Database: Your First Step to Finding Articles

The BGSU Libraries subscribe to more than 120 different research databases, some of which are interdisciplinary, covering a wide variety of subjects, and some of which are for a specific discipline, like psychology or business. With so many research databases to choose from, you need to make use of the subject categories and additional information on the Libraries’ web pages to help you select a database. Visit Ask-a-Librarian to explore a variety of possibilities for getting help.

A Good Starting Point: Using Academic Search Premier to Locate Articles
A good place to start your research on almost any topic is Academic Search Premier. This is a large scholarly, multi-disciplinary, full-text database designed specifically for academic institutions. Containing full-text to 3,432 scholarly publications, this collection provides coverage for nearly all academic areas of study - including social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies, and more.

Communicating with a Database: Three Key Concepts

Key Concept #1: Understanding Defaults
Before you start searching any database (or a web search engine for that matter), you should understand how it expects you to communicate with it. That is, how should you phrase your search so that you get the best results? Spending some time figuring this out before you begin to search will save you time in the long run and improve your results.

Typically, databases default to a particular kind of search. That is, if you type several words in a keyword search, some databases default to searching for all of those words in any order (an AND search). Other databases will look for any of the words (an OR search), or they look for the words in the specific order you entered (a phrase or adjacency search).

Academic Search Premier, like many of the Libraries’ research databases, defaults to phrase searching. That is, if you type words next to each other in a search box, the database will retrieve only those items in which the words appear exactly in that order. Phrase searching may be helpful and may increase the precision of your search results. Just be sure to use commonly occurring, grammatically correct phrases (e.g., world wide web, higher education, stock market, etc.). If you are unsure about defaults in a particular database, look for a button or link that says something such as “help” or “search tips.”

Key Concept #2: Understanding Word (a.k.a. Keyword) Searching
Another key search concept is understanding the differences between subject and word (or keyword) searching. Most research databases give you the option of using either strategy.

Subject Searching: Every item in a database is assigned at least one subject heading (in some databases, the word "descriptor" may be used instead of "subject heading"). These subject headings (or descriptors) come from a predetermined list of possible terms and reflect the content of the item. This means that someone actually looked at an item, determined the content of the item, and then selected one or more subject headings/descriptors to classify it. A subject search looks in only one field of each item -- the subject field. If you know the subject heading/descriptor matching your topic, try a subject search. You'll be guaranteed of finding a list of items meeting your needs. If you don't know the specific subject heading/descriptor, searching by subject becomes trickier. In these cases, trying a word search is wise.

Word Searching: Word searching, sometimes called full-text or keyword searching, looks for your search term or terms in many parts of an item record. A word search often looks at words in an item's title, abstract or notes, and subject field. (This is much different from a subject search which looks at only one field—the subject/descriptor.)

UNLESS YOU ARE AN EXPERT SEARCHER, YOU MAY WANT TO AVOID SUBJECT SEARCHING! Start with a words search. If you haven’t worked on the same topic or in the same research database for a long time, you most likely don't know the correct subject heading, the one that database requires you to use. The other tricky thing is that subject headings can change from database to database.

Key Concept #3: Constructing Your Search
While Academic Search Premier has a menu-driven interface to help you construct your search, you are also able to use Boolean operators to construct a query. See Boolean Operators for examples. For suggestions on constructing an effective search strategy, visit Academic Search Premier—Quick Tips.

GETTING THE ARTICLE

Once you retrieve a list of articles on a given topic, you’re still not done. Browse through your list of results, read abstracts when they are available, and identify potential sources meeting your needs. Make sure you go beyond the first few possibilities returned. Typically, databases return the most recent entries first, not the best. You need to decide which articles are best. After you identify a potential source, your next step is to find out whether or not the article is available full-text or in print at the Libraries. To do this, follow the OLINKs or Find a Copy link inside the database. OLINKs is the mechanism created by OhioLINK and embedded in most research databases to help users identify this information. For more details about this tool, visit How to Use OLINKS.

Don’t forget to ask for help from a librarian if you are having difficulty deciphering OLINKs information.