Information resource databases are the most important tools that professional researchers use to get the information that they need to pursue their work and studies. Databases are concentrated resources that are focused on a specific subject field like education or sociology or business or economics or biology or medicine. Or they may be focused on some type of publications like popular magazines, doctoral dissertations or newspapers. Selection of publications or periodicals to be included a database are usually strict and criteria are based on the specific purpose of the database. Databases are usually a part of groups of databases called databanks that are provided for paying customers as a kind of information store by the company that has developed the databank.
Databases are complex sophisticated instruments compared to free web search engines.
Databases have considerable command structure that is coordinated with a databank's overall command structure. Specific items or records within a database have an organized structure that is relatively uniform throughout the database. This structure facilitates searching for those who have taken the time to learn the record structures of each database as well as the universal searching features and commands of the databank in which one is using the database. As noted above, databanks similarly, have an organized set of search commands and methods that facilitate the searching of those who have learned those techniques and know how to apply them to specific questions. Effective database searching, like all other areas of serious human endeavour, requires prior training and practice to develop even modest skill in the effective use of these tools, including an understanding of boolean algebra or symbolic logic, and of the effect of distance between words on their relevance to each other in the context of specific complex topics being searched and investigated.