How to Find Articles

The database or databases that will help you get the information you need and/or solve your research question. GALILEO is a portal to over 100 databases on a variety of topics.Click on the next tab to learn how to use GALILEO.

A DATABASE is a collection of data organized for rapid search and retrieval by a computer. It is useful to think of databases as containers of information. Just as your refrigerator has many containers of food, a library has many containers or databases of information. Databases form the structure of all online information.

• the online library catalog is a database of materials in the library collection
• Amazon.com is a database of books and many other items for sale
• eBay is a database of things for sale
• MySpace & Facebook are databases of lots of people & their profiles
• Blogs are databases of whatever somebody wants to say or show
• Flickr is a database of photographs
• Wikipedia is a database of user-generated encyclopedia entries
• Webster's online dictionary is a database of words & definitions
• Telephone directories are databases of people, businesses, addresses and telephone numbers
• Mapquest is a database of maps
• GALILEO is a portal to over 100 different databases
• Academic search complete is an database of articles from periodicals relevant to school and college courses
• ABI/Inform is a database of articles relevant to business and management
• Google is a search engine. But it is also a database of websites
• Yahoo is a search directory & engine. But, like Google, it is also a database of websites
• email is a database of email that you send and receive
• YouTube is a database of videos

Articles Databases

Article databases include the citations and often full text of articles in magazines, journals and newspapers. Some article indexes contain abstracts or brief summaries of the articles. Others contain the full text or entire content of whole articles as they originally appeared in the periodical.

Use an Articles database...

• when you want to find articles on your topic in magazines, journals or newspapers

Find articles...

• GALILEO is your main source for access to articles databases

Examples of articles databases

• Academic Search Complete
• Research Library at Proquest
• Business Source Complete

Other GALILEO databases also provide links to articles. Some of these are...

• Encyclopedia Britannica
• Gale Literature Resource
• Literary Reference Center

When looking at online content, it is important to understand what you are looking at. This takes time and practice.

We gratefully acknowledge & credit University of Ohio BOLT
and the University of Wyoming TIP for this content

Five Steps to Better Research by librarians at Colorado State University

1. Think about your topic
2. Define your main concepts
3. Think of synonyms
4. Think of broader terms
5. Think of narrower terms

Watch this brief tutorial...