WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIBRARY DATABASES

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIBRARY DATABASES

By: Sylvester Israel Ebhonu, CLN

didigitallibrarian@gmail.com; ebhonu-lib@adun.edu.ng

Admiralty University of Nigeria Library Coordinator

INTRODUCTION

“… I knew I needed help, because when I go to the internet to browse or look for answers to my assignments, I see a lot of things there and I find it difficult to fish out what I need from what I don’t need. I got frustrated one day in the library until a Librarian came to my aid…”

The quote above is an experience of one of our University Library users. There is nothing as frustrating for a student or researcher than the experience of searching the internet for information and getting either nothing or just junks from blogs as results. Some of these frustrating challenges are obvious:

• Poor information literacy skills
• Not knowing the best source of information (internet, search engine, database, textbooks, directories, encyclopedia, etc.) that meets a particular research question
• Little/no understanding of how search engines and databases work
• Inability to use good search strategies

For most students, the first step to take while carrying out a research is to visit a search Engine and type keywords as they are led. Some students even type the whole research question in a search engine, hoping to get the right answers.

The aim of this article is to: 

• enlighten students, researchers, scholars and library users on the resourcefulness of library databases over search engines.
• provide the necessary awareness Admiralty University of Nigeria (ADUN) Library users need to make the best use of all the Scholarly Databases the Library subscribes to.

SEARCH ENGINES vs LIBRARY DATABASES

WHAT THE FUSS ABOUT LIBRARY DATABASES? 

Imagine that you do not have to get frustrated anymore trying to get 10 best answers out of 20 million search engine results. Instead you get at least 5,000 already vetted and filtered results from which you could always pick the best 10 answers. This is the opportunity databases offer scholars – “scholarly and peer-reviewed articles written by credible authors, such as journalists, researchers and experts in their field” (EBSCOhost) all in one easy to search platform.  

Are you still asking yourself why you should use library databases when google is very handy? Find below seven (7) reasons why you should consult ADUN Library databases the next time you have a research work to do:

• Access: On and Off Campus (24 hours) access has been paid for by the library, so resources in the databases are available for free to all Registered Users to read/download full-texts of articles and eBooks.
• Credibility: Scholars can be confident that the information they find on databases are credible, not biased and of high standard.
• Effective Search Tools: In search engines, users can only use the advanced search to narrow down their search. In library databases, there are more filtering options available, which allows the researcher to narrow their search to just peer-reviewed articles or by date or specific subject.
  
• Citation/Referencing: Students who find it difficult to properly acknowledge the authors of works consulted find databases very helpful, because the citation information is provided in most articles/resources on databases.
• ·         Organization: the scope of what is indexed in library databases is a known quantity and they are maintained and indexed by information experts. Databases provides abstracts - overview of an article so you can decide whether or not to read/download/email the full text.
• Go-To Source: Library databases are perfect ‘go-to sources' for conducting in-depth research on complicated subjects, and they contain a vast amount of research works written by experts in different fields.
• Impact: The ultimate use of standard database resources can foster higher academic research to develop innovative ideas and improve researchers’ cognitive abilities (Jafi, JianMing and Ahmad, 2019).
  

NEXT STEP

As a university student, researcher or library user, you will always be required to do a research, assignment or project. With access to reliable databases, you do not have to worry about “how do I get materials?” Now that you have learnt about the resourcefulness of databases to your academic work, CLICK HERE - ADUN Library e-Resources to access the databases ADUN Library subscribes to.

Disclaimer: This article does not discourage the use of search engines by scholars. Every researcher should develop the good habit of using different search strategies, searching through multiple databases and sources of information, and not being limited to just one.