A database may be a collection of numbers, words or images. The library catalog is a database that contains information about items the library owns. Some items listed in a library catalog include books, videos, computer programs, CDs and maps. Libraries often purchase subscriptions to databases that contain sets of information about a given topic in a specific format. For example, libraries with a subscription to ERIC purchase lists of articles, books and papers related to the field of education.
Databases consist of records .
Each record represents an actual item . Sometimes a field may have more that one entry . Both libraries are listed as entries in the location field of the record for the item, Yellow Submarine . It is useful to understand these terms when approaching databases. Databases that contain full-text are an exception to this rule.