What is a Database?		What do Results Look Like?
Database Common Features		Which Database is Right for Me?

What is a Database?

A DATABASE is a collection of information organized in such a way that a computer program can quickly select desired pieces of data. You can think of a database as an electronic filing system.

Traditional databases are organized into Records containing Fields. Each field contains specific information.

A telephone book is an example of a database.



The UQ Library catalogue is a database, which contains records of all resources held by the Library, but does not describe detailed information about book chapters or articles in journals. Each record consists of fields such as author, title, publisher, item location, call number, description, bibliography and subject.

The UQ Library subscribes to Subject Databases available via the Internet to support research and teaching. These Databases allow you to find articles in journals, magazines and newspapers. They can also contain references to book reviews, conference proceedings, reports, book chapters and other publications. These databases can contain a mixture of record types including full text, abstracts or citations.

There are many different types of databases. The description of the records contained in a database will often determine its type. The most common types of databases are:

• Bibliographic databases
• Full-text databases
• Numeric databases
• Image databases
• Audio/Video databases
• Mixed databases (a combination of any or all types of information)

A brief description is attached to each database title on the UQ Library Databases page that will help you determine the subjects covered and database type.

To access information in a database, you use the database’s search facility. This is sometimes called search engine or search screen or interface.


Database Common Features

Although some databases look different, they all have certain features in common. Understanding these common features will allow you to apply general principles to your searching regardless of which database you use.


The common features of databases may include:

• Text box to type in a search term
• Basic and advanced searching options
• Combining terms using connectors
• Limiting search options by field eg. date, language, publication type
• An index of subject headings or a thesaurus
• A results display
• A search history display
• Online help
• Ability to Mark or Choose Records so you can compile your own list of results
• Ability to Print, Save and Email results

TIP If you are not familiar with the features listed above you can find out more information about them from each database HELP menu.

What do the Results Look Like?

The layout of records generated by a database search will vary according to the database being searched, but the fields they contain will be similar. Fields in a typical bibliographic database record will include:

• Title of article
• Author of article
• Publication date
• Title of Journal (sometimes named Source or Citation)
• Article Language
• Abstract
• Descriptors or Subject Headings
• Publication Type

However, not all databses contain journal articles. The results and field names from databases containing other types of information will reflect the information contained in them. Consult the database HELP menu for more information about results and fields.






Which Database is Right for Me?

There are many different types of databases. No one database will provide you with all the information you require for your thesis or research project.

To assist you to select the most appropriate database, the databases have been arranged according to broad subject categories on the UQ Library web site. A brief description is attached to each database title that will help you determine the subject coverage and database type.

Liaison Librarians can play an important part in helping you with research problems as they are specialists in particular subject areas. ASKa Librarian offers a variety of methods for you to ask questions of librarians to support your teaching, learning and reseach needs.

Databases can be accessed either on campus or off campus via Databases on the UQ Library web site. Passwords may be required. See Passwords & PINs on the Library web site.

In order to select the most appropriate databases, you will need to consider the following criteria:

Subject coverage	Some databases focus on a particular discipline or specific subject, whilst others are multidisciplinary and cover a broad range of subject areas.
Journal titles indexed	Individual databases will index a selected range of journals and other publications. Some will also provide links to full text articles. In some databases this is restricted to journals from a particular publishing house. It is therefore necessary to search a number of databases in order to obtain comprehensive coverage on a particular subject.
Types of Publications indexed	Many databases index a range of publication types, for example book chapters, journal articles and conference papers, whilst other specialist databases index a specific type of publication, for example patents, legislation, dissertations or manuscripts.
Geographical coverage	Many databases that focus on a particular discipline have international coverage, drawing information from around the world and often index material in other languages as well as English. Other databases cover information related to a particular geographical region.
Time period covered	Most electronic databases cover material published from the 1960s or 1970s onwards. You may need to transfer your search for older material to the printed equivalents. You will also need to check each database to find the frequency new records are added, e.g. daily, weekly, and quarterly .
Citation finding	Citation databases include not only references cited by the authors of the articles but also enable you to find out where an article has been cited subsequent to its publication.

Ask at the Information Desk in any Branch Library

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