PSY255: Abnormal Psychology (Devane F25)

What is a library database?

• A database is a large collection of information organized in a structured way.
• Every source is reviewed before being included in their collection- no random blog sites will come up in your search results.
• The results will typically only include materials such as journal articles, newspapers, and educational videos- content that is much more credible and relevant to your work. 
• There is no ulterior motive in the way they present information- searches are entirely based off the term(s) you enter. 
• Resources include all publishing information, such as the author, date, or journal title. This is important when citing your work. 

Why not use Google?

• Anyone can publish a website online without being fact checked by experts.
• Companies can pay search engines to have their website appear sooner in the results, regardless of what you searched for.
• Many websites do not include relevant publishing information, which makes it close to impossible to determine credibility.
• Databases have resources that Google does not have access to (usually because of a paywall)- you are already paying for access via your tuition and fees, so take advantage of them! 

Some databases are subject specific- this means they only include journals, magazines, or articles that fall into a specific field. For psychology, we recommend you try these databases for more in-depth information and research. 

Other databases are multidisciplinary. This means you can find information from all subject areas within it. These are great for beginning your research to get a general idea of what literature exists in your topic of interest. Once you have searched these, we recommend moving to subject-specific databases that will have more in-depth research in your specific topic.