A library database is an online searchable collection of information. Libraries buy subscriptions to databases so students can find useful and interesting information. Library databases contain lots of information ranging from scholarly peer-reviewed articles, newspaper articles, and conference papers.
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, IEEE; Knovel
- Regional databases: Some databases are regional (focus on specific countries/continents. E.g. African Mines Online; SAePublications
- Databases for older material: JSTOR is an excellent full text source for older information.
