Choosing a Database

Databases are searchable online collections of articles, citations, and other information.  You have access to the databases because you are a student, staff or faculty of Fort Hays State University.  The content of our databases differs from the information available on the free web in that it is often scholarly, peer-reviewed information not available for free on the Internet.

Database Characteristics

• Some are general and cover many topics (“department store”) 

              Examples: InfoTrac, Wilson Omnifile, LexisNexis

• Others focus on one subject or discipline (“specialty shop”)

              Examples: ProQuest Nursing, Education Full-Text, LegalTrac 

• All offer a basic search and advanced search; some offer subject or other specialized searches 

• Nearly all contain a mixture of full-text articles and “citation/abstract only” items. A few have only citations or only full-text.

• Most contain both scholarly and non-scholarly articles; some contain only scholarly content.

• All allow you to limit your search by date, to scholarly articles only, and/or to full-text articles only.

• Most work with LinkSource (notable exception: CINAHL)

• All offer print/save/e-mail features; many offer personalized folders for saving articles & searches

For Lists of the Best Databases for Each Subject Area,

consult the Research Guide for that subject.