Reference Databases

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Reference Databases

• LIB 120
• Amanda Izenstark

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Whats a Reference Database?

• A reference database is an electronic tool that
  allows you to find periodical articles (and
  sometimes book chapters and theses) on a specific
  topic.
• Reference databases are created by independent
  companies, not by libraries.

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Reference Databases

• Some databases only give you citations.
• Some databases give you abstracts, which are
  brief summaries of the main ideas of articles,
  books, or other materials.
• A few databases give you full text (the entire
  article).

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Database Access Points

• Keyword
• Author
• Title
• Subject / Descriptors

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Database Citations

• The citations will generally include the
  following information
• Article Title
• Periodical Title
• Author
• Date
• Pages

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Finding Articles

• Select an appropriate reference database to
  search. (There are different kinds!)
• Look at the results, and find a citation to an
  article that looks like it fits your topic.
• Write down the complete citation

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Finding Articles

• Click on the Search for Full Text or Article
  Linker link
• And/or search the HELIN Catalog for the
  periodical.
• Determine whether the periodical is online, in
  the current periodical room, in the serial
  stacks, or in microfilm.

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Finding Articles

• If its online, follow the link!
• If its in print, write down the call number for
  the periodical.
• Go to the part of the library that has it.
• If you find a citation from a periodical the
  library does not subscribe to, you can order it
  through Interlibrary Loan.

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The Order of Results

• Most show the most recent results first, instead
  of the most relevant.
• This means last years fabulous article will be
  further down the list than yesterdays ¼ page
  rehash.
• Consider re-sorting by relevance

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But whats relevant?

• For computers, it might be this
• more occurrences of terms more relevant
• fewer occurrences of terms less relevant
• Look to see whether the database is searching
  just the abstract or the full text.
• An abstract of a good article might have only two
  occurrences of your search terms, but a mediocre
  complete document might be counted as more
  relevant just because your terms show up more!

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Problems with Databases

• They only cover a limited time (generally no
  earlier than the 1990s), though this is slowly
  changing.
• They dont understand typos.
• You may find references to book reviews, not full
  articles.
• Sometimes the best articles are not in full text,
  or not in full text in that database!

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Another Problem The Tasini Decision

• 2001 Supreme Court case New York Times Co.
  Inc., et al. v. Tasini, et al.
• Freelance writers We want to keep the rights to
  our work, and get paid if/when print articles are
  republished in any format!
• Publishers We want the right to republish your
  articles in any format we already paid you!

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Another Problem The Tasini Decision

• Freelance writers (Tasini, et al.) won.
• Gives freelance writers the rights to their work.
• What this means for researchers
• Some print articles will appear online in full
  text
• Some print articles will NOT appear online in
  full text youll just get a citation and a
  note.
• Some print articles will NOT appear in your
  results AT ALL!

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• Using a database is NOT the same as using a
  search engine!

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Why not?

• Databases are not free. They cost .
• Google, etc. can NOT access databases.
• Articles must be published in a periodical or
  book BEFORE they can appear in a database.
• That means theyve gone through an editorial or
  peer-review process, depending on the publication.

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Using Databases for Research

• Determine which time period your subject covers.
  1850s? 1920s? 1970s? 2000s?
• Find a database that covers your topic.
• Make sure you know why you get the results you
  do, so that you can adjust if necessary.
• Write down citations.
• Locate the full text or search the catalog for
  the periodicals.