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ENGL-C1000 Rocha: Finding & Selecting Databases

Academic Reading and Writing

What's a Database?

A database is an organized collection of data.

Databases 101: What is a Library Database?

Pollak Library eLearning (1:52)

Database Name vs. Database Provider

When citing information from databases, you'll need to provide the name of the database, not the name of the database provider.

  • EBSCOhost = database provider
    • Academic Search Complete = database name
    • PsycINFO = database name
  • Gale = database provider
    • Gale Virtual Reference Library = database name
    • Academic OneFile = database name

Image of EBSCOhost logo and Academic Search Complete database

Understanding, Finding & Selecting Databases

Amazon limitersAmazon.com is a database that allows you to sort items you can purchase by categories, such as books, clothes, etc. You can also use filters, such as price, to find the best deals.

Library databases are search tools that provide access to information that isn't necessarily available for free online, such as scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles, and more. The Merced College Library spends $80-90k every year to renew its subscriptions to 70+ dataAcademic Search Complete Limitersbases.

Academic Search Complete is a library database that is multi-disciplinary in focus. It provides access to the full text (complete articles) for more than 4,600 journals, which includes 3,900 peer-reviewed journals.

Many of the the library's databases allow you to sort and filter information sources by source type (e.g., scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles, publication date (e.g., 2009-2019), and, in some cases, by language, geography, etc. The filters available will depend on the specific database.

Like you use Amazon to order a product, like a laptop, you can use a library database to  "order" specific types of sources--but at no charge to you as a student!

  • Navigate to the college website.
  • Select MC Portal on top right side of the window.
  • Log into the Portal with your username and password.
  • Click on the "Library" link at the top of the window.

Library link selected in the Portal

  • Click on the "Find Databases" link in the middle of the window.

Find the Databases link

  • Congrats! You've found the A-Z Databases list. The list of the library's 70+ databases is organized alphabetically. You can search for a specific database by name or use the filters to limit the databases by subject area and / or type of source. Some databases are specific to particular subjects, while others are multi-disciplinary in focus. Some databases house just one type of source, and some contain a variety of sources.

To select a database by subject:

Image of database subjects1. Navigate to the A-Z Databases list. 

2. Use the All Subjects drop-down menu to find all the represented subjects.

3. Think about your topic. Which of the subjects from the list does your topic most closely relate? Health? History? Science? There may be more than one relevant category, and that's okay. Just start with one subject area.

4. After you select a subject area, you will find a list of databases that are good for topics related to the selected subject. Read the database descriptions to determine which of the suggested databases contain the kind of information you are interested in.

To select a database by type of source:

Image of database source types

1. Navigate to the A-Z Databases list. 

2. Use the All Database Types drop-down menu to find all the represented sources.

3. Think about the kind of question you are trying to answer. Which type of source represented in the list would be the best fit to answer your question. Newspapers? eBooks? There may be more than one relevant category, and that's okay. Just start with one type of source.

4. After you select a source type, you will find a list of databases that contain that kind of source. Read the database descriptions to determine which one would be a good fit.