Part 5 - Introduction to online bibliographic databases

What is a bibliographic database?

A bibliographic database is a database that contains descriptive records of books, periodical articles, conference proceedings, and audio-visual collections.

When you search in a bibliographic database you will be provided with the information on the articles that match your search. This information is called a citation. A bibliographic database may also contain a description, summary or abstract of the items that have been retrieved during a search. An abstract databases give summaries (aka abstracts) of journal articles which provide enough clues for a searcher to know if the full-text would be useful.

In addition, a bibliographic database can be specific to a certain discipline. For example, Chemical Abstracts and Entrez contain science related information and ARTstor compiles art images.
Source: https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Bibliographic_database

A full-text database provides the full-text of a publication so as well as providing the citation to a journal article, it may also contain the entire text of the article.

Why are full-text bibliographic databases useful?

In the past...

• Compiled indexes or printed lists of resources (bibliography listings) would have been used to find an article.   
• Once the citation of a useful article was found, a print copy of the journal would need to be located. 
• Once the journal was found the options would have been borrowing the whole journal, photocopying the article or making notes as you read
• Today full text articles can appear on a computer screen if a correct search is done on a full-text bibliographic database
• In most cases you can use the Internet from any location to find a useful article if you have authorised access to the database

There are also databases that provide statistical information such as Australian Bureau of Statistics database and other databases that may just hold images, video or audio information.

Common features of online bibliographic databases

There are some features that are almost always found in an electronic bibliographic database. Some of these features include: 

• A Search Screen 
• Keyword Searching Capability 
• Subject Searching Capability 
• A HELP! Section 
• A Publications Section

Search Screens

• There is always a BASIC or SIMPLE way to search an electronic database.
• Usually a keyword or phrase is entered into a search box in order to search for useful articles from the database.

Keyword Searching

• Keyword searching is an option on most databases. 

What is a keyword? 

• A keyword is the principal word or words that may be found in the title, abstract, or the text of an article.   
• The keyword may or may not be the subject of the article.
• The keyword search is often the default feature of a database. This means that the keyword search screen will be the first screen that appears when you enter the database.

Subject Search

• Subject searching is an advanced (and very useful) feature of databases
• A subject search will always find more precise and "on-target" results than a keyword search. 

What is a subject?

• The subject is the main topic or main focus of an article.

Subject Search vs Keyword Search

• A keyword search will look for words that are located within the article. These words may not be the main focus or topic of the article. 

• There is also a subject listing in most databases. This is an alphabetical listing of subjects used to categorise the articles and this can be useful in determining what subject search to use.

HELP Section

• The HELP section is designed to assist new searchers on the best way to use the database
• It may give useful search tips and explain  symbols which can be used to make your search more precise
• It may also explain how records can be downloaded, printed, emailed or exported into other databases

Publications

• All databases have a way for the user to find out which publications (magazines, journals, newspapers, etc.) are part of the database.
• The search screen may include a listing of the database's publications, or a way to browse electronically through a particular issue of a publication.
• This can be very helpful. Some publication issues may focus on a particular subject or issue. Being able to browse through magazine or journal issues may help you locate suitable articles for your research. 

Distinguishing features of online bibliographic databases

• All databases have different features from database to database unless the database is part of a suite of databases provided by the same vendor e.g. EBSCO

These may include:

• Subject and topic coverage
• Full-text, abstracts or both 
• Appearance of the screens
• Advanced search feature

Subject/Topic/User Groups

• All databases have a particular subject or topic coverage or are aimed at a particular user group/s
• Some databases are aimed specifically at medical researchers for instance whilst others may cover general reference topics
• Most databases are aimed at students or researchers but the level of coverage might vary so a database used by secondary school students would not be the same as one used by higher degree students even if they broadly covered the same subject area

Subject Coverage

• It is useful to know the coverage of a database. Searching in some databases may be more effective than others on particular topics. 
• Sometimes it is easy to know what can be found in a database by its name; sometimes it is difficult to tell. For example, it would be easy to work out the subject coverage of Oxford Art Online, however, it may be difficult to know what Academic Search Premier covers.
• Usually, a description of the database can be easily found on the main screen of the database
• Effective searching begins with choosing the most appropriate database for your information needs
• To help users to locate the appropriate database(s) for their research, many libraries offer a list of their database with a description or a list of databases by subject or topic

Appearances &Terminology

• Searches may be called by different names.  
• Some databases have a Basic and Advanced Search whilst others feature a Keyword search and Advanced Search
• The HELP section can be useful in pointing out particular terminology, abbreviations, truncations and search choices
• Search screens can look quite different from one database to another but this is usually superficial 

Advanced Features

• Databases may offer other advanced features that are an enhanced, unique part of that particular database system. 
• Some advanced features in electronic databases could include:
  * Natural language searches
  * Searching more than one database at a time
  * E-mailing or saving the results
  * The option to limit a search to full-text or scholarly journal articles

Chisholm Databases

Activity 1 

Have a look at Chisholm Library's databases. Categorise the databases into the following:

• Bibliographic
• Full Text Database
• Video/Audio database
• Information database
• Statistical database

If the database fits into more than one category, select the best fit and explain why you think it belongs in the category. Include the Name of database and brief description