LIBRARY DATABASE RESOURCES
Covered topics
Definition of Library Database Resources
Characteristics of library databases
Types of Library Databases
Criteria for Evaluating of Databases
Database Search Techniques
Libraries exist for the purposes of acquiring, organising, and providing access to
wide range of information-bearing resources. These information-bearing resources
can be in print or electronic format. Information resources in print format include
books, encyclopaedia, print journals, magazines, etc. Electronic information
resources can include CD, E-books, E-journals, E-magazines, etc. Another common
type of electronic information resources are library electronic databases.
Definition of Library Database Resources
A database is a collection of related files put together in a record treating the same
field of interest. A library database is a meticulously organized, searchable electronic
index comprising a wealth of published and reliable resources. Library database
resources refer to organized collections of electronic information that libraries
provide access to through specialized software and systems. At their core, library
databases are repositories that store reliable electronic information resources which
can be accessed by users through the library's dedicated access points.
A library database typically contains e-books, academic journals, periodicals,
magazines, conference proceedings, and other multimedia materials
Characteristics of library databases
1. Contain credible information: Library databases distinguish themselves through
several key characteristics, notably their reliance on information derived from
published works that undergo rigorous fact-checking, a feature that sets them apart
from the often less reliable content found on general websites.
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2. Provision of citation tools: library databases are designed to streamline the
citation process, offering tools that facilitate the creation of bibliographies and, in
many cases, automatically generating citations in various formats.
3. Regular Update: Library databases are consistently updated and meticulously
maintained, providing users with access to current information and clearly indicating
publication dates, which is often not the case with websites where the currency of
information can be difficult to ascertain.
4. Enhancing Research: Electronic databases possess remarkable potential to
augment research endeavours. They provide researchers with access to a vast
collection of scholarly information. This scholarly information contribute significantly
to their investigations and facilitate the discovery of new knowledge.
5. Easy Retrieval: Unlike a simple collection of files, a library database is structured
to facilitate efficient retrieval of needed information. This help users to quickly locate
the specific materials they need.
Types of Library Databases
Library databases are not monolithic entities; they come in various forms, each
designed to cater to specific information needs. Understanding the differences
between these types of databases is essential for researchers to effectively locate
the most relevant and reliable information for their specific needs.
1. By Content Type:
i. Bibliographic databases
ii. Full-text databases: These contain complete texts of books, dissertations,
newspapers, and other textual documents. (e.g., JSTOR, Science Direct)
iii. Indexing and Abstracting Databases: These provide organized
information about publications without necessarily containing the full text,
serving as pointers to complete resources.
iv. Statistical Databases: These contain organized numerical data for research
and analysis
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2. By Subject Area
i. Multidisciplinary/General databases: general databases encompass a
broad spectrum of topics and document types, providing a wide-ranging overview of
information across various fields. These databases are designed to cater to a
diverse audience with varying information needs. They offer a starting point for
research and exploration across multiple disciplines. Examples of widely used
general databases include:
EBSCOHOST: provides access to a vast collection of academic journals,
magazines, newspapers, and other resources, covering a wide range of subjects and
catering to the needs of students, researchers, and professionals.
eGRANARY: is a digital library that provides offline access to educational resources,
making it particularly valuable in areas with limited internet connectivity.
ProQuest
ii. Subject-specific databases: Subject-specific databases are meticulously
curated collections of information that concentrate on a single academic discipline or
a cluster of related disciplines, providing in-depth coverage of specialized topics.
These databases are designed to meet the needs of researchers, students, and
professionals who require access to comprehensive and authoritative information
within a particular field.
Examples of subject-specific databases include:
AGORA, which focuses on agriculture
LEXIS NEXIS, which specializes in legal information
PsycINFO
ArchINFORM
3. By Access Mode:
i. Subscription-based databases
ii. Open access databases
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Criteria for Evaluating of Databases
1. Accessibility and Ease of Use: The interface quality, query capabilities, and
overall user experience offered by the database system. This impacts adoption and
effective utilization across the organization.
2. Currency: How frequently the database is updated and whether it contains the
most current information.
3. Authority: Databases must maintain data integrity and deliver reliable information
with minimal errors.
4. Coverage: The extent to which a database includes all relevant information
required for specific use cases. This criterion helps assess whether the database will
meet the organization's information needs
Database Search Techniques
Keep in mind that no single strategy, set of keywords, or finding tool will work
perfectly every time. You’ll need to use different strategies for different situations.
1. Simple Search Techniques
i. Phrase searching: is when you take a specific phrase and enter it into the
search box using quotations around it. It’s helpful when you want to find a specific
term or phrase, for example “solar energy.” By putting quotations around the phrase,
that ensures the database will search for those words together, in the order you
specify, rather than sprinkled anywhere in the resource.
ii. Truncation: is when you use a special symbol, often an asterisk (*), to search
for multiple endings for a word’s base, or “trunk.” Using a truncation symbol tells the
search tool to find any word that starts with the letters leading up to that symbol,
regardless of what letters come after that point. This is a simplified way to search for
different forms of the same word with a single search. For example, by searching for
electric* you can find results containing all or any of these terms: electric, electrical,
and electricity.
iii. Filtering: is the process of narrowing your results by applying modifiers to
your existing search. Filters that let you do things like restrict your results to a
specific date range (e.g. published in the past 5 years) or format (e.g. books instead
of articles).
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2. Advanced Search Techniques
i. Boolean Operators
Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) help you broaden or narrow your search,
depending on which operator you use. Note that in many finding tools, you must
capitalize Booleans for them to be recognized.
AND: specifies that all the keywords you connect with AND must be present in your
search results. The more search terms you add with AND, the more you will restrict
your results, and the fewer results you will get. Example: you need result with
containing dog and evolution. By constructing your search with AND between each
term, your results would each need to contain both dogs and evolution. Any item with
only one of those terms but not the other would be excluded from your results
OR: When using OR as a connector, it specifies that at least one of the keywords
you searched must be present in your search results. Unlike AND, using OR will only
guarantee that one of your terms is present in the results, not necessarily all of them.
This is useful when you want to search synonyms or closely related concepts for
your topic simultaneously.
Example:
Returning to our example, if you want to find more sources about dogs and
evolution, using OR allows you to add related terms like “canine” to your search.
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Extracted from: Iowa State University Library Instruction Services. (2021). Library
160: Introduction to college-level research. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Digital
Press. DOI: [Link]
NOT: will restrict your search by omitting any keyword(s) that come after NOT. This
is a useful way to prevent items containing irrelevant or unwanted keywords from
appearing in your search results.
Note: if you keep finding results about the “canine teeth” of other animals rather than
results about dogs, using NOT allows you to exclude the term “teeth” from your
search results. Here is an example of how that Boolean search could be constructed:
Extracted from: Iowa State University Library Instruction Services. (2021). Library
160: Introduction to college-level research. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Digital
Press. DOI: [Link]
This search will find items containing the terms “dogs” or “canines,” as long as those
records do not also include the word “teeth.”
ii. Nesting
Nesting lets you combine multiple searches into a single search. It allows you to
group similar concepts or keywords together within parentheses so you don’t have to
perform multiple searches.
Example: Let’s say you want to search for information about the causes of anxiety.
After brainstorming synonyms for your keyword “causes,” you come up with
“reasons” and “factors.” Databases may use different terminology to talk about the
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same subject. Instead of performing three separate searches for anxiety with each
term, you can instead use the Boolean OR to search them all at once. Without
parentheses, the search “anxiety AND reasons OR causes OR factors” would find
sources containing “anxiety AND reasons,” or sources containing “causes” or
“factors” without necessarily containing anything about anxiety. This will bring you
way too many results, many of which will be irrelevant. To fix this search to find what
you actually want, use nesting.
Anxiety AND (reasons OR causes OR factors)
By combining the keywords “reasons,” “causes,” and “factors,” with OR inside the
parentheses, the finding tool will first search for results containing any or all of those
terms. By leaving “anxiety AND” outside of the parentheses, we are telling the finding
tool that, no matter which of the three other terms it finds, “anxiety” must also be
present in all of our results.
iii. Field searching
This is a technique that lets you search for information that you know will be in a
specific field of an item record, such as the title or author. This focuses your search
in advance, making your results more relevant from the start.
Most finding tools allow you to do a simple search or use more advanced features. In
subject-focused indexes, these features can be highly specialized. Search features
you are likely to find in an article index include:
limiting to only peer-reviewed articles
full-text or abstract only
specifying a date range to search within
restricting to languages you understand
Document type (book chapter, article, etc.)
Assignment: Differentiate Between Databases and Search Engines
