This page is intended to help you select databases for your research projects and learn more about what types of databases are available for you to use.
The library provides databases for a variety of subjects, and to help you out with making choices, the databases are cataloged both by subject and alphabetically. If you don't know which database to select, the best place to start is with the general databases. The best selection for a starting point is Academic Search Complete. It is a large database that offers magazine and journal articles on a wide variety of subjects. It includes articles from scholarly and peer-reviewed publications as well as articles from general interest magazines. It is one of our many EBSCOhost databases, and it is easy to navigate and also allows users the ability to store documents in their own folders.
For details regarding how to navigate the EBSCO products, the company has provided at short EBSCOhost Tutorial that provides a step-by-step walk through the use of EBSCOhost products. Best database for general searching is Academic Search Complete. Once you have experience with Academic Search Complete, you will be able to use all of the EBSCO databases with ease.
Here are just a few of the specialized databases that are published by EBSCO:
- Computers & Applied Sciences Complete -- Especially good for internet, technology, and applied science topics.
- Business Source Complete -- This database means business.
- Literary Reference Center -- Find literary criticism, plot summaries, and reviews in this database.
- Education Research Complete -- A great source for education-related topics.
- Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition -- A quality source for medical topics.
- SPORTDiscus with Full Text -- Want information about sports and fitness? Here is the place to look.
- Newspaper Source Plus -- This database is a place to locate newspaper stories from across the nation and even around the world.
An EBSCOhost database that could be useful if you are having difficulty arriving at a topic is called TOPICsearch. This database lists significant current events and current subjects that may give you ideas for your research project.
Excellent database resources are available for argumentative issues.
CQ Researcher offers indepth reports on popular current and controversial events. The indexing is very easy to use to find topics, and the coverage is detailed and thorough. In fact, the reports can be printed in sections if the entire report is not needed. Additionally, essays written by subject specialists who support either the pro or the con side of the issue are also part of each topic discussion.
Another database focusing on controversial issues is called Issues and Controversies. It, too, covers popular, current and hotly debated issues and combines objective analysis with clear explanations of opposing points of view. It is easy to search by subject and by pro and con topics.
Points of View Reference Center is a full-text database that contains essays presenting multiple sides of a current issue. The database provides 250 topics, each with an overview (objective background/description), point (argument), counterpoint (opposing argument), and a Critical Thinking Guide.
Two more examples in the General Topics category are:
LexisNexis Academic is the library's gateway to current newspaper articles. LexisNexis features articles from both American and foreign newspapers, and all articles listed in LexisNexis are full text.
The Pop Culture Universe database offers a large number of overviews of pop culture from the 1920's through the present, including TV shows, awards, fads, fashions, and news. It is fun to look at Pop Culture Universe because of the variety of material that it contains.
Take a look at some of the video resources that are available to you through the library.
