{"id":330,"date":"2017-08-11T14:09:22","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T14:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/olemiss-writ250\/?post_type=chapter&p=330"},"modified":"2024-01-24T20:55:38","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T20:55:38","slug":"search-tools-databases","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/olemiss-writ250\/chapter\/search-tools-databases\/","title":{"raw":"Search Tools: Databases","rendered":"Search Tools: Databases"},"content":{"raw":"A research database lets you search across the text of millions of articles published in thousands of academic journals. General databases have a little bit of everything, like a big retail store. Examples of general databases include Google Scholar, the library's One Search, and JSTOR. These are good starting points when you\u2019re just beginning your research and shopping around for articles on a wide range of topics; however, we call them \"starting points\" because you may find there are too many search results to sift through, even with narrow search terms. If you\u2019re getting too many irrelevant results when searching for sources, try not only adjusting your search terms, but also consulting a specialized database.\r\n\r\nSpecialized databases, like a boutique, contain lots of relevant research on a particular subject\/discipline (e.g., psychology) or format (e.g., streaming video). When you\u2019re getting too many irrelevant results in a general database, it can help to try your search in a more specialized database closely aligned to your topic. The number of results you get will be smaller, but the content will be more relevant. Examples of specialized databases include PsycINFO, Political Science Complete, and PubMed.\r\n
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using databases<\/h3>\r\nTake a look at Marvin\u2019s success in finding information within a specialized database.<\/em>\r\n\r\nO-Prof: Let\u2019s go back to your initial Google search for a minute. Did any Wikipedia articles come up for bottled water?\r\n\r\nMarvin: Yeah, and I took a quick look at one of them. But some of my professors say I shouldn\u2019t use Wikipedia.\r\n\r\nO-Prof: That\u2019s because the quality of information in Wikipedia varies. It\u2019s monitored by volunteer writers and editors rather than experts, so you should double-check information you find in Wikipedia with other sources. But Wikipedia articles are often good places to get background info and good places to connect with more reliable sources. Did anything in the Wikipedia article seem useful for finding sources on bottled water?\r\n\r\nMarvin clicks back to the Wikipedia site.<\/em>\r\n\r\nMarvin: It does mention that the National Resources Defense Council and the Drinking Water Research Foundation have done some studies on the health effects of bottled water (\u201cBottled Water\u201d).\r\n\r\nO-Prof: So, you could go to the websites for these organizations to find out more about the studies. They might even have links to the full reports of these studies, as well as other resources on your topic. Who else might have something to say about the healthfulness of bottled and tap water?\r\n\r\nMarvin: Maybe doctors and other health professionals? But I don\u2019t know any I could ask.\r\n\r\nO-Prof: \u00a0You can look in the library\u2019s subject guides or ask the librarian about databases for health professionals. The Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) database is a good one. Are you logged in to the library? Can you try that one?\r\n\r\nMarvin logs in, finds the database, and types in \u201cbottled water AND health.\u201d<\/em>\r\n\r\nMarvin: Here\u2019s an article called \u201cHealth Risks and Benefits of Bottled Water.\u201d It\u2019s in the journal Primary Care Clinical Office Practice<\/em> (Napier & Kodner, 2008).\r\n\r\nO-Prof: If that\u2019s a peer-reviewed journal, it might be a good source for your paper.\r\n\r\nMarvin: Here\u2019s another one: \u201cSocio-Demographic Features and Fluoride Technologies Contributing to Higher Fluorosis Scores in Permanent Teeth of Canadian Children\u201d (Maupom\u00e9,\u00a0Shulman, Clark, & Levy, 2003). That one sounds pretty technical.\r\n\r\nO-Prof: And pretty narrow, too. When you start using sources written by experts, you move beyond the huge porch of public discourse, where everyone talks about all questions on a general level, into some smaller conversational parlors, where groups of specialists talk about more narrow questions in greater depth. You generally find more detailed and trustworthy knowledge in these smaller parlors. But sometimes the conversation may be too narrow for your needs and difficult to understand because it\u2019s experts talking to experts.\r\n\r\nWay ahead of the professor, Marvin\u2019s already started reading about the health risks and benefits of bottled water.<\/em>\r\n\r\nMarvin: Here\u2019s something confusing. The summary of this article on risks and benefits of bottled water says tap water is fine if you\u2019re in a location where there\u2019s good water. Then it says that you should use bottled water if the purity of your water source is in question. So which is better, tap or bottled?\r\n\r\nO-Prof: As you read more sources, you begin to realize there\u2019s not always a simple answer to questions. As the CINAHL article points out, the answer depends on whether your tap water is pure enough to drink. Not everyone agrees on the answers, either. When you\u2019re advising your future clients (or in this case, writing your paper), you\u2019ll need to \u201clisten\u201d to what different people who talk about the healthfulness of bottled and tap water have to say. Then you\u2019ll be equipped to make your own recommendation.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nThe library has two tools that are great for exploring databases. The first, database search<\/a>, provides a searchable index of all the databases to which our library subscribes. Let's look up PsycINFO. Once you click on a database, you\u2019ll have to log in with your university username and password. Once we\u2019re logged in, let\u2019s search for \u201cnarcissism\u201d and see what comes up.\r\n
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explore the hotspots<\/h3>\r\n