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How to Choose a Library Database

"So many databases! ...Where to begin?"

Do you need background information?

Search one of the Places to Start Databases, such as Academic Search Premier, or an encyclopedia such as Encyclopedia Britannica.

Do you need articles fast?

Start with full-text databases that give at least some articles to print, save or e-mail immediately. Full-text databases are marked with FT on the Ludcke Library Database Page. The Places to Start Databases are rich in full-text articles in most Lesley fields of study.

Is your topic part of an academic discipline, such as education, science, mathematics, social sciences?

Example: "Teaching children to read" is in the discipline of education; "Water pollution in the Great Lakes" is a science topic.

• Choose a Specialized Database such as Access Science or ERIC.
• Search Wilson OmniFile. This is a collection of full-text subject databases in education, social sciences, science and humanities.

Is your topic interdisciplinary? Does it bridge more than one discipline?

Example: "Employee supervision in schools" bridges the disciplines of education and management.

• Search a Multi-Disciplinary Database such as Academic Search Premier or Expanded Academic ASAP.
• You may also search two or more Specialized Databases, such as ERIC and Business Source Premier.

Do you still need more information after searching the full-text databases?

Search a large research database such as:

• ARTbibliographies Modern
• ERIC
• MLA International Bibliography
• PsycINFO
• Sociological Abstracts.

These databases give only citation and abstract for journal articles, not full-text, so you will need to obtain the articles from a library or book store. However, ERIC, Psyc and Sociological Abstracts link to full-text items from other databases by the same vendor. Press Check linked full-text sources.

Go Search a Database

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