Why Use Library Databases
Why not just use Google search?
Library Databases include a lot of information and resources that you cannot access on the free web:
- eBooks
- articles from academic journals
- news articles
- reference books
- essays
- indexes
Other databases can help you with language learning or art appreciation.
Library databases provide more scholarly results than a Google or Bing search. Databases are great for research, showing you not only full-text content but also citations and abstracts for materials that are not available full-text (but might be available through interlibrary loan).
| Library Databases | ||
| What they search | All of the "free" web | Scholarly materials only available through library databases |
| How they search | All the text of a document | Fields such as title, author, subject |
EBSCO Search searches not just our catalog of books, ebooks, dvds, and other media but also most of our online databases as well!
Benefits:
- the search will yield results from many sources
- you don't have to select a database to get started.
Disadvantages:
- fewer options for focusing your results
- sheer number of results may be overwhelming
Our list of databases allows you to choose the database you wish to search.
Benefits:
- more options to control and narrow your search
- some databases dedicated specifically to certain topics
Disadvantages:
- you may not know which database to choose