Exploring article databases#

EXERCISE: Database Comparison#

Article databases provide additional functionality to guide subject-specific queries. In this exercise, you will select two databases from the “A-Z Databases” list for Engineering on the Library’s website (https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/az.php?s=4516) and evaluate their relevance to your topic.

You can also use Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com) for comparison. Use the same keyword search in both databases.

Example#

Our example query is: permafrost melt

We have searched for those keywords in a database called GeoRef (https://libproxy.berkeley.edu/login?qurl=http://search.proquest.com/georef/advanced?accountid=14496).

GeoRef Example

Example

Database Name

GeoRef

Relevance of results

Manageable results (539 articles), but all are relevant

Types of publications (journal articles, conference papers, patents, books)

Journals articles, conference abstracts

Search functionalities (keyword, structure search, CAS number)

limit to peer review

Features (sorting, format, ability to export/save, citation information)

sorting, export, no citation info

Ease of getting the full text

easy - UC elinks

Your turn#

What is your topic?

Try searching your topic in two databases.
Get examples here: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/az.php?s=4516

Edit the table below with your observations.

Questions#

  • What did you notice about the two databases?

  • Which features are most useful?

  • How do the library-subscribed databases differ from Google Scholar?