LIBRARY DATABASES
V. SEARCH ENGINES
A tutorial to help students know
what resource to use and when.
FIRST THINGS FIRST…
WHAT IS A LIBRARY DATABASE?
 Organized collection of electronic information that allows a
user to search for a particular topic, article, or book in a
variety of ways (e.g., keyword, subject, author, title).
 Contains thousands to millions of records or articles.
 Some databases contain the full-text of articles from
journals, magazines, and newspapers as well as books while
other databases contain only citations - or - citations &
abstracts.
 Can be multidisciplinary (cover a variety of topics) or
subject specific (e.g., business, health).
HOW CAN I ACCESS THE LIBRARY
DATABASES?
Library databases are available 24/7 and can
be accessed on or off-campus by logging in
to http://kesu-verso.auto-graphics.com
Add this site to your Favorites.
Username: Student ID# and Password: Last
four digits of your Social Security Number.
Contact your librarians for assistance.
AND WHAT DOES
“PEER REVIEWED” MEAN?
 Unlike general interest and trade magazines, academic journals are much
more scholarly in nature and are usually published by a university or an
academic society or organization.
 Peer-reviewed journals (also called “refereed”) are highly valued by
academic libraries because they contain articles that have been screened
by an author's peers (people who work in the same field as the author).
 Peer review is the accepted method for ensuring that information is of
the highest quality.
 Many of the library’s databases have an option to limit your results to
"Peer-Reviewed” or “Refereed” publications.
 You can check the Help screens of databases to find out if limiting by
peer review is available and how to use this function.
EXAMPLES
Peer-Reviewed Publications
 JAMA: The Journal of the American
Medical Association
 Intelligent Buildings International
 Harvard Business Review
 Alternative Therapies in Health and
Medicine
 Journal of Renewable and
Sustainable Energy
 International Journal of Civil Aviation
Popular, Trade or General
Internet Publications
 National Geographic
 The New York Times
 The Florida Sun-Sentinel
 Scientific American
 Sports Illustrated
 Vogue
 People
 Air Cargo World
AND ANOTHER QUESTION…
CAN’T I GET THE SAME ARTICLES USING GOOGLE?
 In most cases, no.
 Most of the information retrieved from the web by
using Internet search engines, such as Google, is free to
access.
 Library databases contain copyrighted, licensed,
proprietary information that is not free or accessible
without a subscription.
 The Library pays yearly subscription fees for its
databases just like it pays yearly subscription fees for its
print journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Let’s compare:
LIBRARY DATABASES V.
INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES
TYPES OF INFORMATION
Library Databases
 Scholarly journal articles
 Popular magazine articles
 Newspaper articles
 Reference book selections
 Full text e-books
 Videos
 Case studies
 Clinical trials
 Company profiles
Internet Search Engines
 Few free scholarly journal and
magazine articles
 Few free e-books
 Commercial websites
 Social media websites
 Government and organizational
websites
 Current news & information
WHEN TO USE
Library Databases
 Best for college level research
 When you need to find credible
information quickly
Internet Search Engines
 When you have time to more
carefully evaluate information
from the web
 When you are already familiar
with the reputable source
 In certain research situations
using search engines may be
appropriate. Contact your
librarian for more information
or assistance.
CREDIBILITY
Library Databases
 Articles and books written by
journalists or experts in a
professional field
 All material in databases is
evaluated for accuracy and
credibility by subject specialists
and publishers
 Reviewed and updated regularly
Internet Search Engines
 Shopping, & entertainment
 Industry news
 Industry standards and
organizational guidelines
 When you have time to more
carefully evaluate information
from the web
 When you are already familiar
with the reputable source
CREDIBILITY
Library Databases
 Articles and books written by
journalists or experts in a
professional field
 All material in databases is
evaluated for accuracy and
credibility by subject specialists
and publishers
 Reviewed and updated regularly
Internet Search Engines
 Lack of control allows anyone to
publish their opinions and ideas
on the internet
 Not evaluated (for the most
part); need to carefully evaluate
websites for bias, accuracy, and
authority.
 Many sites are not updated
regularly and can become
outdated.
USABILITY
Library Databases
Internet Search Engines
 High level of organization
 Low level of organization
 Allows users to search for and
 Less ability to search for and
retrieve focused and relevant
results
 Can rank results by relevancy
and date
 Often times there is a "find
similar results” feature
 Can also search by subject
headings
retrieve precise results
 Returns a lot of irrelevant, off-
topic, biased, outdated, or
inaccurate information
 Information may be
interspersed with
advertisements, pop-ups, etc.
COST/ACCESSIBILITY
Library Databases
 Your university pays
subscription fees to have access
to scholarly and up-to-date
material
 Accessible 24/7 from the library
website
Internet Search Engines
 Free or low-cost monthly
internet fees
 Websites may link to scholarly
databases allowing you to
purchase articles for $15 to $30
 Do not purchase without first
checking to see if that same
material is available from your
library
CITING
Library Databases
 Many library databases offer
easy-to-use citation tools that
will automatically generate
references in APA format
 For example, in ProQuest click
on “Cite,” in InfoTrac click on
“Citation Tools”
 Your librarians can assist you
with finding the citation tools
within the databases
Internet Search Engines
 Very little if any citation
assistance
 Citations will have to be
generated from scratch
 Some reputable APA websites
can assist with citations
SO, WHAT’S WRONG WITH JUST
“GOOGLING” IT?
 Google seems easier when you’re just starting out, and the databases seem
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harder. But once you become familiar with the databases, you realize it’s
the opposite – Google makes you spend more time weeding through a
bunch of irrelevant results.
Easier to find relevant information using the library databases.
Most of the information retrieved from the Internet hasn't been evaluated.
It could be inaccurate, biased, or it might not be current. You will need to
more carefully evaluate information retrieved on the Internet.
Quality of your work suffers when you rely on sources that often are not
scholarly.
Authors of web sites might not have the same credentials as the authors of
articles found in the library databases.
All of the articles found in the library databases have already been evaluated
for accuracy and credibility by discipline-specific experts and publishers.
SO WHEN SHOULD I USE GOOGLE?
 Well organized and easily accessible websites may be used for the
following:

To gain an introductory understanding of an idea or topic

To find references to additional articles

To find key phrases or search terms relating to your topic
 Use it to find pertinent organizational websites (examples: American
Cancer Society, U.S. Green Building Council, etc.)
 Use it to find pertinent government websites (examples: U.S. Small
Business Administration, National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine, etc.)
 Use it to access scholarly articles on sites such as Google Scholar,
Microsoft Academic Search, and the Directory of Open Access Journals.
WHAT ABOUT CLASS ASSIGNMENTS?
 My instructor told our class we can’t use any (or only a few) Internet
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sources. Can I still use the library databases?
Yes. Library databases use the Internet as a delivery system but they are
not thought of as ”the Internet” as they are not freely accessible or in
many cases retrievable through the use of search engines.
In most cases, your instructor means that they don’t want you using
web sites or web pages found on the open web through Internet search
engines such as Google, Bing,Yahoo, etc.
Most of the published resources found in the library databases are not
available on the open web.
Always clarify with your instructors what they actually mean when the
class is told no (or few) Internet sources.
RESOURCES
 Library Website:
http://kesu-verso.auto-graphics.com
 Library Blogs:
http://eulibraries.wordpress.com/
http://keiserlib.wordpress.com/
http://librarlyn.wordpress.com/
 Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/
 Microsoft Academic Search:
http://academic.research.microsoft.com/
 Directory of Open Access Journals:
http://www.doaj.org/
CONTACT YOUR CAMPUS
LIBRARIANS
FOR FURTHER ASSISTANCE.
WE’RE HAPPY TO HELP!