Databases - southampton.k12.va.us



|Databases |Search Engines |

|Purchased by the library |Free to anyone with computer access |

|Content is reviewed and recommended by librarians |No review standards with regard to content |

|Information is organized |Information is not organized |

|Information is stable |Information is not stable; locations and content continually change |

What are the differences between databases and search engines?

General Tips

|Advanced Searching |Search by Keyword, Abstract, Document Title, Author, Publication Title, |

| |Publisher Name, ISSN, ISBN, Subject, Person Name, Company Name, Place |

| |Name or Brand Name |

|Limit Your Search |Limit to full-text only, items containing images, peer-reviewed journals,|

| |and restrict the search according to publication date, publication title,|

| |or indexed subject |

|Search Assist |The search input boxes will suggest words as you type, allowing you to |

| |select correct/preferred spellings of terms, as well as most commonly |

| |searched terms. |

|Searching for Phrases |When you want to search with and, or, or not as words rather than Boolean|

| |operators, enclose your search terms in quotation marks. For example: |

| |"black and white photographs". |

|Saving Documents |Saving a document means setting it aside in your "Saved Documents" |

| |folder, which allows you to print, email, download and generate citations|

| |for all or some of your saved items at once. |

|Citing Gale Sources |Automatically generate a bibliographic citations based on a format of |

| |your choice. |

|Other Tools |There are tools for printing, emailing, downloading, bookmarking, |

| |creating a search alert, and sharing and translating. |

Use Boolean Operators

|Boolean Operator |Description |Example |Notes |

|AND |Finds all your search terms in the |children and travel |Generally speaking, you do not need |

| |searched text. | |to use AND between your search terms|

| | | |as the search engine automatically |

| | | |looks for all your search terms in |

| | | |proximity to one another. The AND |

| | | |operator is most effective when |

| | | |doing an Advanced Search using the |

| | | |Entire Document index. |

|OR |Finds one, some or all of your |postmortem or autopsy |OR is good to use when searching for|

| |search terms in the searched text. | |variant spellings or synonymous |

| | | |terms. |

|NOT |Use before a term that must not be |crime not murder |It is generally better to enter what|

| |found in the searched text. | |you are looking for, rather than |

| | | |what you are not. So rather than |

| | | |searching on crime not murder, |

| | | |search on a specific aspect of |

| | | |crime, such as campus crime, hate |

| | | |crimes, organized crime, and so on. |

Use Wildcard Characters

|Wildcard |Description |Example |Notes |

|* |The asterisk stands for any number of|A search on carib* finds: Carib, |Many Gale databases require a minimum|

| |characters, including none. |Caribs, Carribbean, caribe, caribou |number of characters (usually three) |

| | | |before you can use the asterisk |

| | | |wildcard, so the following search |

| | | |would not be allowed: ma* |

|? |The question mark stands for exactly |A search on psych????y finds: | |

| |one character. |psychiatry and psychology (but not | |

| | |psychotherapy). | |

|! |The exclamation point stands for one |A search on colo!r finds: color and | |

| |or no characters. |colour | |

A list of databases can be found on Southampton High School’s library webpage. Go to Faculty and Staff ---> Library Media Specialist ---> Student Websites ---> Databases.

The databases listed are provided by Find It Virginia. Find It Virginia may log you in automatically. If not, some computers ask for your library card number (from the Blackwater Regional Library) and others ask for a password - enter "blackwater." If neither of these work for you please locate the databases at the Find It Virginia website (click on Elementary, Middle, High, Public Libraries, and Popular Newspapers and Publications to see all of the collections).

**Find it Virginia is supported by federal funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and ensures that all residents of the Commonwealth have equal access to essential resources for lifelong learning.

The Blackwater Regional Library also provides its patrons with access to other databases. This information is located at .

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