More than just "fill in the blank" database

When doing research, it's easy to fall into a bit of a rut.  More specifically, the kind of rut that involves you starting with same one or two databases every single time that you start working on a new research project.  If you have had success in the past with a database, you are more likely to return there when working on project.  Consequently you then become more familiar with the tricks and techniques that make searching that database "easier" to use, while other databases seem more complicated and time-consuming.  This can lead to some problems, as while you might be able to scrape by for a time using only one or two databases, odds are that eventually you will hit a wall in your searching.  Why is that?  Odds are there are few likely culprits:

• Although this may seem obvious, different databases contain different things. Different journals and resources are published by different organizations, and are in turned cataloged in different databases online.  For example, say you're doing a paper on effect of snack food on children.  The Journal of Awesome Science News recently published a ground-breaking paper on the effect of eating snack food on children's grades.  However, The Journal of Awesome Science News is only found in XYZ database.  If you use only ABCD database, you'll never find this article. While you may find other articles on snack food in ABCD, if you don't include this brand new, amazing article from The Journal of Awesome Science News your professor may have some questions for you as to why you left this article out.


• What you're searching for might not exist online.  It's tempting to think that anything (information-wise) can be found online, that is simply not the case.  If you need local news or old magazine articles (think pre-1980), it can be hard to find this information online as there is not always the financial means or incentive for the original owner to digitize the collection. This means that if the info is online at all, you might have to search some very specialized collections such as a university archive, the likes of which is rarely found online in a major database.  And if it's not online at all?  Prepare to get comfortable with a machine that many students find intimidating: a microfilm reader.


• The database might not be the best one suited for the work that you're doing.  If you want multi-media, or charts and graphs, or foreign-language content, there might be a database that specializes in that sort of material that you would totally miss if you stick to just one database.

So how do you avoid the trap of using the same database every time?  There are few good practices that would be helpful to follow while researching.

• First of all, get familiar with the library's subject pages (http://library.coe.edu/SubjectPages.html) and the A-Z database listings (http://library.coe.edu/AllDatabasesAlpha.html).  Simply go to the area of study that you're interested in, such as Art, and you'll find that the library staff has highlighted databases, websites, and other reference works that we think will be applicable to the work that you are doing.  Not familiar with a database that you see listed?  This is then a good time to look at the A-Z database listing to a read a description on the resource.


• Once you access an unfamiliar database,  look around the site for links to areas such as "Publications," "Subject Terms," and "Help."  These parts of the site can help you find out some of the different resources contained within a database, along with some of the language commonly used to describe articles which will ultimately help you be more successful in your searching.


• Ask your professor what their favorite databases are.  Odds are that they are always working on a research project (or five), so they can probably recommend databases that have lots information relevant to your discipline.


• When in doubt, swing by the reference department.  One of many responsibilities of that reference staff is to be very familiar with all of the databases that we subscribe to, in addition to other resources available for free online, so the odds are in your favor that the staff here can help you get the most out of different databases that you have access to.