Using Online Databases

YEY RESEARCH!

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 termsEXAMPLE: cars OR automobiles

AND : instructs the database to only find information containing BOTH search termsEXAMPLE: mosquitos AND malaria

NOT : instructs the database to only find results that do NOT contain a certain wordEXAMPLE: 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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4B4UvlBbAA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAbBEKx45JU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaREUJFq3_M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTJQyPQyewE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96WwdB5cVGE

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:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMdNkniUmBc

Finding a news case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17E6Q1hmciY

Finding a company profile:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrA8wUVpFsI

Comparing companies:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZR6qo5edYs