Like a gateway, the library serves to open the way to a large number of articles in periodicals. These are found by searching the databases . A database is a collection of articles from hundreds or even thousands of periodicals. Some databases are specific to a subject area, such as education, or psychology, or business, or religion. Others are general.
Databases vary in types.
Some give index information and sometimes include an abstract or summary of the article. Other databases, called full-text databases, provide both the abstract and the complete text of the article. An example of a full-text database is WilsonSelect in FirstSearch. Still other databases provide access to either index or full-text information in the list of articles resulting from a search. Constructing a Search Before doing a search in a database, define what you want to find.