When inquiring whether a library has a specific book it is obviously better to verify this by searching the library s catalogue, if however you need to perform a substantial subject search or factual information, your results will most likely be better if you conduct your search in subject databases or handbooks covering your topic. ALIS records all materials at DTV at title level. This means that titles of books and journals are recorded, but not the titles of individual articles in the books and journals. You want to locate books written by Einstein. The result is a list of all books at DTV written by Einstein.
Subject databases contains relevant literature within a defined area.
The material is usually recorded at article level, enabling you to search for specific articles from journals, conference proceedings and books. You wish to locate articles on intelligent highways in Denmark. There probably are not any books on this subject, and therefore you will need to find a subject database in which you can search for articles. Try choosing the Compendex database, available in the DTV Article Database Service . The result is two articles.