BIOL 150: General Biology

What is a database?

A database is a collection of resources, usually grouped by topic. Databases may contain scholarly journals, popular publications such as newspapers or magazines, videos, and archival materials, among other resources. The search page here at the library searches many databases at once, but going straight to a specific database can still save valuable research time. Searching in a database may take some practice, writing full sentences in the search bar does not work well, but the time it takes to get comfortable with a database is time well-spent. 

Why choose a database over a web search engine?

Databases are designed to offer more specialized information than a search engine like Google or Bing. Searching in a database also gives the user more freedom to narrow down their results both before and after actually running the search. Getting millions of search results when you need specific resources can be overwhelming, so filtering out useless information makes research more pleasant. 

An example search:

I want to find an article written about enzyme inhibition written in the last five years. 

First I'll go ask Google: I type in "articles about enzyme inhibition written in the last five years" and hit search. I get back 268,000,000 results for my question, which is immediately overwhelming.

My second attempt takes me to the library's advanced search option. When I go to advanced search, I type "enzyme inhibition" into the text box, use dropdown menus on the search page to filter for articles written in English, add 2018 as the earliest article publication date, and hit search. I get 37,624 results, which is better, but still a lot of information.

After a while, I decide to use CellPress, a science-oriented database I can access from the library website. I go to CellPress' advanced search page, put in "enzyme inhibition" as my search term, told the search bar to only look in the abstracts, keywords, or titles for my phrase, then set the publication date filter to "last five years" and run my search. I get back 1,091 results, which is by far the most manageable of the bunch. 

If you find an article on PubMed, Google Scholar, or anywhere that VCSU does not have access to, don't panic! Don't pay for access to the article either. Follow these steps instead.

1. Find the DOI, PMID, or full title of the article and copy it.
2. Go to the AML website, click the menu called "Library Services," then select the top option, "My Library Account."
3. Log into your account using your NDUS credentials. 
4. At the top of the page, you should see a tab that says, "Item Lookup," click that tab and paste your article information in the correct area of the form.
5. Click submit, then when your result shows up, click "Resource Sharing Request:" under the "How to Get it" section. 
6. Make sure the information is correct, then submit your form. The library will let you know when your item arrives!

For more information check out our InterLibrary Loan @ VCSU Guide