What is a Database? - Presentation

Introduction | Prep | Presentation | Activity 1 | Activity 2

Researchers typically use a few key databases for any given project. You probably already have a handful of favorites that you search when you need to find materials for your research. 

The most successful researchers remember that every database has its limits. When a favorite database gives unsatisfactory results, think about why, and consider whether there’s another database that’s better designed for your current research task.

Use these four questions to help you assess whether the database you’re using is giving you the results you expect:

  • Why does this database exist?
  • What goes into this database?
  • How is this database searched and indexed?
  • How can you access this database?

Slide presentations (60 minutes)

If you know more about all the different kinds of databases that exist, you will make better use of the small handful that are most relevant to your project. You’ll also be better able to imagine other databases that might exist, and to ask librarians to help you find them.

Why does this database exist?

Why JSTOR excludes recent issues for some journals, why you have the LDS Church to thank for ancestry.com, and why you should be very wary of sites like ResearchGate and Academia.edu.


Watch the "Why does this database exist?" video on Panopto (from Harvard)

Access the "Why does this database exist?" presentation on Google Slides (from Harvard). Links to an external site.

Highlights

  • Important considerations
    • Governance
    • Purpose
    • Market
    • Contents
  • Options for you to self-archive your work
    • Institutional repositories
    • Subject repositories like ArXiv and SSRN
    • Academic networking sites like ResearchGate and Academia.edu

What goes into this database?

Different file formats call for different search strategies, why you should pay close attention to scope, and some of the hidden pitfalls created by the “more is better” trend toward aggregation and mergers.


Watch the "What goes into this database?" video on Panopto (from Harvard).

Access the "What goes into this database?" presentation on Google Slides (from Harvard). Links to an external site.

Highlights

  • Consider what the database is able to search for
    • Image and scan metadata
    • Machine readable text
    • File inputs
  • Consider the scope of the database
    • Date ranges
    • Types of sources
    • Combined databases

How is this database indexed and searched?

How your mental model of the database compares to what’s actually happening, query expansion and hidden search features, how to make the most of a database’s search apparatus.


Watch the "How is this database indexed and searched?" video on Panopto (from Harvard).

Access the "How is this database indexed and searched?" presentation on Google Slides (from Harvard). Links to an external site.

Highlights

  • What the main search box can’t do
  • Hidden information that can match to your search
  • Subject indexing varies (but is still really helpful)
  • “Full-text” can be deceiving

How can you access this database?

Different access points can mean different search options and different results, proprietary agreements may surprise you, plus the wonderful world of dark archives.


Watch the "How can you access this database?" video on Panopto (from Harvard).

Access the "How can you access this database?" presentation on Google Slides (from Harvard). Links to an external site.

Highlights

  • Institutional licensing
  • Different paths to the same content
  • How your location changes the open web

Introduction | Prep | Presentation | Activity 1 | Activity 2