Definitions
Database: A large, regularly updated file of digitized information (bibliographic records, abstracts, full-text documents, images, statistics, etc.) related to a specific subject or field, consisting of records of uniform format organized for ease and speed of search and retrieval, and managed with the aid of a database management system software.
Periodical: A publication appearing at regular (or irregular) intervals with its own distinctive title, containing a mix of articles, editorials, reviews, columns, short stories, poems, or other short works written by more than one contributor, issued in soft-cover more than once. Examples include journals, magazines, and newspapers.
Article: A self-contained nonfiction prose composition on a fairly narrow topic or subject, written by one or more authors and published under a separate title in a periodical containing other works of the same form.
Databases to Find Empirical Articles
Databases provide access to articles and other information; sometimes the full text is available but sometimes only the abstract and citation information are available (in which case you can request the item through interlibrary loan). Databases can include access to peer-reviewed articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles, etc. Some are specialized by topic, and some are interdisciplinary. Check out this guide from SUNY New Paltz to learn more about what databases actually are, and how they differ from google.
Milne Library subscribes to hundreds of databases. Those listed below are a good start for your work in this class:
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowFull text for about 8,500 periodicals including over 7,300 peer-reviewed journals across most areas of academic study as well as indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 magazines and journals. Coverage is from 1887 to the present.
- Health Source: Consumer EditionContains nearly 80 full text, consumer health magazines. Coverage is from about 1984 to the present.
- MEDLINE with Full Text This link opens in a new windowFull-text for about 1450 publications. Coverage is from about 1800 to the present, with some full-text from about 1935 to the present.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowFull-text of over 1400 core scholarly journals and Books across most subject areas.
Can be used for course content: Titles from many university presses and other academic publishers
Video Tutorial
For a quick overview of Academic Search Complete, watch the short and information-packed video below. Many of the tips and tricks you'll learn in this video can be applied to other databases, including those above!