Databases, like magazines, are compiled and published by larger companies. EBSCO and Gale are two of the larger database providers. Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, Cinahl and Literary Reference Center are EBSCO databases. Academic Onefile, Biography in Context, Literature Resource Center and Opposing Viewpoints in Context are Gale databases.
To access all of the Library's databases click on "Search more collections" on the Library's website.
Most article databases are set up the same way. Each has a search box in which to type your search term, or topic and also some choices to limit your search. Learning to recognize the common elements among databases will make your research much easier to do.
The search box is where you type your keywords, and can be found at the top of most screens in each database.
The EBSCO search box looks like this:
The Gale search box looks like this:
Searching these databases is very similar to searching other sources like Google, except that you're searching only the articles indexed in the databases.
An important thing to remember when searching is that just like Google, these databases are not searching for your subject or topic; rather, they are searching for the words you entered in each search. Create a list of search terms and phrases that describe your topic, and then try doing a different search for each alternate word or phrase.