Databases are organized collections of information. Library databases provide access to a wide range of information. Most are citation databases providing information about what articles are in certain periodical titles. Often there is an abstract or a summary of the article, and sometimes you can access the full-text of the article from a database.
EMU also has databases that provide access to films, images, reference works, dissertations and other types of information.
The EMU databases link provides access to a list of all the databases to which EMU subscribes.
Q. Why can't I just use Google or another Internet search engine to find resources?
A. One reason to use library-supplied databases is that these provide access to credible resources for academic work. Google and other Internet search engines may turn up hundreds of thousands of hits on a topic, but many of the resources are not acceptable for quality academic work.
Many of the library databases are specific to a particular discipline or subject area. Students working in these areas need to know about the subject specific resources.
Not only do these library databases provide access to citations and abstracts, but many provide access to full-text resources as well. These resources are not available to the general public for free through Internet search engines.
For resources not available in full-text, the library can provide links to interlibrary loan.
Q. What about Google Scholar?
A. Google Scholar does search more scholarly resources including books and journal articles. However you will find you will not be able to access content that may be available through the library.
A listing of all the EMU databases.
Library Catalogs
Library catalogs, like EMU's list the holdings of individual libraries. They give information on what items are on the shelf and what items are checked out. Until recently library catalogs only provided citation and holdings information, now you can access much of our ebook and streaming video collection as well.
WorldCat is a list of holdings by libraries world wide. WorldCat.org is freely available to anyone. To use Worldcat for interlibrary loan login to EMUShare with your EMU email and password. You can then search and request books from there.
General Periodical Databases
Databases such as Academic Search Complete are general or multidisciplinary databases. They provide access to periodical literature in many subject areas. They also index both scholarly journals and popular magazines. They are often a good place to start your research.
Subject Specific Databases
There are many databases that index materials in a specific discipline. Many times these databases index more than just periodical literature. They often provide information on dissertations, books and book chapters as well as book reviews. Students should learn which databases cover their discipline or major. Here are a few titles.
Publisher sites and other full-text databases
Many publishers now provide access to their resources through their own websites or databases. Many of these do not provide any type of subject searching. You can refine searches to specific fields like the abstract or titles to limit your results.
Use the individual subject guides to find resources in specific disciplines.