Skip to Main Content

FEBE- Construction Management and Quantity Surveying: Databases & Finding Articles

Guide to Information resources for Construction Management

What is a database?

Databases are collections of references to journal articles from many journals, chapters in books, reviews, conference proceedings,reports & in some cases, dissertations & theses.Online databases are most useful for finding articles when you do not know in which journals articles are published.

Different types of databases:

  • Bibliographic databases: only refer you to the article, they do not supply the article itself.
  • Abstracting databases: Some databases not only include the bibliographic details of an article, but also a summary of the article.
  • Full-text databases: Some databases supply the full-text of a document.
  • Multidisciplinary databases:  Multidisciplinary databases like can be used for any subject, e.g. EBSCOhost; Taylor & Francis
  • Subject specific databases: Subject specific databases are very useful for topics within a subject, Knovel
  • Databases for older material: JSTOR is an excellent full text source for older information.

How Do I Access a Database

Go to the Library Homepage.

  • Next to the Library Catalogue, click on Databases
  • Select the required database from the list by scrolling down to the relevant title, or
  • Click on the arrow under Choose Subject
  • Click on the relevant database from the list that appears.
  • Some databases are multidisciplinary and some are subject specific.
  • Some databases only have bibliographic information, whilst others have a summary of the article.
  • Full text databases provide access to the article in HTML or PDF format.
  • Select the PDF format because it is easier to quote, as it has the page numbers for the articles.

Multidisciplinary databases

Databases for Construction Management