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Searching for Information

Searching for information using library resources can be tricky.  Use the helpful tips and strategies in this Research Guide to learn how to select keywords and databases, what techniques can help improve your search, and how to refine your process by broadening or narrowing your search.  Use the purple tabs to the left to navigate this Research Guide.  

Choosing a Database

Two key pieces of information to consider when choosing a database:

1.  Know what SUBJECT area(s) the database covers. Most databases specialize in a specific discipline.  For example, PsychINFO is an expansive abstracting and indexing database with more than 3 million records devoted to peer-reviewed literature from the 1800s to the present in the behavioral sciences and mental health.

2. Know what TYPES of materials the database covers.  Most databases index scholarly journal articles but many include other types of content either in addition to or instead of scholarly articles.  Some other types of content covered in databases: magazines or newspaper articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, statistical data, as well images, audio, or video. 

NOTE: EBSCO is not a database. Rather it is a company that hosts databases...NUMEROUS databases. So saying/writing you found something in EBSCO, will not help someone find your source. 

A to Z DATABASE LIST

Use the drop-down menu below to search the databases to which Defiance College subscribes:

Pilgrim Library:   
  419-783-2481     
  library@defiance.edu     
  Click the purple "Ask Us" side tab above