14.5: Navigating Library Databases
- Page ID
- 315349
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)The best place to find credible scholarly articles is via an academic database. These databases include a wide range of credible sources over almost every topic you can imagine (and some you can’t), but they are expensive, so you must be affiliated with an academic institution to access them. Luckily for you, as a Butler Community College student, you have full access to our own Butler Library Databases, across which you can find hundreds of thousands of helpful sources, ranging from print and eBooks to journal articles and even videos, complete with transcripts and citation generators. The image above is taken from the Butler Libraries homepage, which you can access by going to the Butler website, clicking on the “Students” tab and scrolling down to “Libraries”; in a pinch, you can go to https://www.butlercc.edu/libraries.
If you are taking an in-person version of an English course, your instructor may schedule a library visit for your class so you can engage more thoroughly with the institution’s databases with the help of a research librarian. If you are in an online course, you can also connect with a research librarian via the “Chat with us!” button on the library homepage.
During a library visit, many students learn how to navigate the academic database and conduct searches via the Grizzly Search tool and within individual databases.
Grizzly Search
A more recent tool, the Grizzly Search function allows you to use your keywords to search for sources across all of Butler’s many databases. Once you’ve entered your initial keywords, you will be taken to a “Results” page, where you can filter by source type, date range, language, and more to refine your search. One unique feature of Grizzly Search is the “Research Starter” that offers an overview of your general topic.
General Research Databases
While you can browse databases alphabetically or by subject matter as you become more familiar with the research process and develop more specific goals, the most popular resources for students tackling research are the general research databases, which include ProQuest Research Library, EBSCO Academic Search Premier, Gale Academic OneFile, Issues and Controversies, and Opposing Viewpoints. Each of these databases offers something unique for students new to college-level research, so we will explore them briefly in the table below.
| Database | Distinguishing Characteristics | Search Tips |
| ProQuest Research Library | Allows searches across multiple databases and includes over a dozen different source types, both popular and scholarly; user-friendly homepage that allows you to start filtering right away | Proquest is a large database, so you will want to use different tactics to limit your search. Start with a Boolean search, and also consider limiting your search to certain source types or dates. You might also consider a subject search. |
| EBSCO Academic Search Premier | Allows searches across dozens of databases; allows students to filter by number of pages and image types; offers help with search terms and strategies | Allows searches across dozens of databases; allows students to filter by number of pages and image types; offers help with search terms and strategies |
| Gale Academic OneFile | Allows students to browse by discipline; features a topic finder tool to help visualize connections between search terms and topics | Gale Academic OneFile defaults to only showing you academic sources unless you specifically look at the popular sources tab. It will have fewer returns than EBSCO or Proquest, but you will likely need to use a Boolean search on this database to keep your search manageable as well. |
| Issues and Controversies | Includes “Pro/Con” overviews for topics based on current events and offers detailed overviews of the debates surrounding these topics | Issues and Controversies is a limited database, so use your broad topic as a search term rather than a Boolean search. In other words, if you are looking for climate change, just search “climate change” and not something like this: “climate change” AND effects AND agricultur* |
| Opposing Viewpoints | Allows students to browse by issue; offers overviews of each issue and bundles potential sources by type (academic articles, videos, etc.) | Like Issues and Controversies, Opposing Viewpoints is designed to help students more easily navigate sources, but Opposing Viewpoints will give you more varied types of sources on each topic. Opposing Viewpoints will give you popular and academic sources and will label them for you very clearly. Generally, using a broader search on this database is advisable unless you have a very large topic. |
Tips for Using Databases
If you do not have luck on one database, try another! Some topics will be easier to research in a more general way, while others may require a bit more specificity in terms of filtering.
When generating citations from academic databases, be sure to select the correct citation style based on your assignment; some databases, for example, will default to APA style, and if your paper requires MLA style, this could create a problem down the line.
Always filter for “full-text” sources when searching to ensure that you are able to read a complete version of an article; if you do not filter for this, you may find a great article that you can only access partially. When you do open a full-text article, it is best to download the PDF version so you can see the document as intended, with specific page numbers noted.
See this video from the Butler libraries for more help finding sources.