Article Databases
Objective: Students will be introduced to
general and subject article databases
Article Databases
An article database is a
collection of article
citations and full-text
articles from newspapers,
magazines, and scholarly
journals.
Article databases are designed
to be searched for rapid
retrieval of information.
Although called article
databases, other types of
information can be found in
these resources including
reference books, images,
government reports, and
primary source documents.
Keep in mind that not
everything in a database
is always full-text. Some
just contain citation
information and you will
have to find the full-text
in another resource.
In the example on the
right, only the second
article is available in fulltext in the database.
Article Record
Clicking on the title of
the article in the
database results list,
brings up the article
record. This record gives
you more information
about the article
including citation
information and an
abstract describing what
the article is about.
Just like encyclopedias, article databases can be
broken into two types:
General
Subject
General article databases contain
information on a wide variety of
topics. They are great places to start
when you are just beginning your
research.
Subject article databases focus on
particular subject areas and contain
more in-depth information. You
would use a subject database if you
are researching a more specific topic.
Examples of General Article Databases
 SIRS Researcher
 NewsBank
 Academic Search Premier (Ebsco)
Examples of Subject Article Databases
 CultureGrams
 Education Full-text
(Wilson Web)
 ABI/INFORM Global
(ProQuest)
To access general or subject databases:
 Go to your library website
 Ask your school library teacher
 Ask your public librarian
Article databases are usually accessed through a
library website.
Note: You may need passwords for remote access.
Searching Article Databases
The first step in searching an article database is to
select the best database for your topic. When just
starting it is a good idea to begin with a general
article database. If you aren’t sure which database
to search, ask a librarian.
For example, if you wanted to find articles for
the research question…
“How does censorship affect the programs we
see on television?”
….you would search a general article database
such as SIRS.
To search an article database, combine your
keywords with Boolean operators to create a search
statement such as…
censorship AND programs AND television
You would then enter this statement into the search
boxes in the database.
This search would bring up a list of results.
Clicking on the title link would bring up the
full-text of the article.
Note: Not all databases contain full-text articles.
Some only contain citation information.
Article Database Search Tips
• Select the best database for your search. If you are
not sure what database to start with, try a general
database or ask your librarian.
• Searching is an art, not a science. If the first search
you enter doesn’t work, try using different search
terms.
• Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) to combine
keywords/phrases to get the most relevant results.
Summing Up
Article databases, both general and subject,
can help you gather general and more specific
information on your research question/thesis
statement.