Databases
What are databases and who uses them?
Library databases are:
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- Online subscription services.
- Searchable collections of articles, images, videos, reports, & data.
- Services that provide information not found online for free.
Databases are used by:
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- Researchers and students at colleges and universities.
- Industry professionals in fields such as marketing, product development, retail analytics, and more.*
* Learning to use databases, especially ones used in workplaces, can help you with your career.
Why use databases when OneSearch does so much?
- Write stronger research papers with evidence from scholarly articles and ebooks
- Find and analyze demographic data, retail numbers, and consumer insights
- Work on your assignments on-the-go with remote access to high quality resources from anywhere
- Find hi-rez photos of the runway shows, street styles, and emerging trends for use in projects and as inspiration
- Browse and search through every issue of individual magazines with archival databases
- Track the financial performance of individual companies and learning more about their future prospects
Reasons to Use a Library Database Instead of OneSearch
- OneSearch is a great tool and it searches the content of most but not all of our databases. These are called OneSearch Exceptions and include:
- All Trend Forecasting databases
- Most Market Research and Retail Analytics databases
There are also certain situations where using a database directly just makes more sense. We call these the 3 Fs.
- Focus: When you need something that covers a specific or niche topic
- Format: When you are looking for certain forms of information, such as statistics, images, or video
- Filters: When you need specialized filters for narrowing your search, such as season, clothing item, or demographic.
How to find and select a database
This is a database selection visual walk-through. Read the text and pay attention to what is highlighted in pink. Click on theyellow areasto proceed to the next slide. The is best viewed full-screen.
Review the key points by filling in the blanks
In the last module, you learned about library databases, as well as when and why you might want to use one for homework or research. The following exercise is designed to reinforce what you have learned.
