The Basics:
Databases are finite, curated collections of information. Through the Rice Library's website, you have access to nearly 100 databases containing a wide variety of information formats, including - but not limited to - video, image, newspapers, and scholarly articles.
Our scholarly resource databases, such as ProQuest Central, Academic Search Premier, and JSTOR, provide access to two types of content:
- full text resources
- bibliographic records for resources
Though instantaneous full text access to an article is the ideal situation, simply having access to information about an article will allow you to request an electronic copy of any article for free through the Rice Library's Interlibrary Loan service. If you are not affiliated with USI, you may still be able to request items through the Interlibrary Loan services at your local public library.
Pros:
- Panels and editorial boards populated by subject and academic experts set and enforce standards for scholarly database content. This selection process adds an extra layer of reliability for your searches. In other words, you can trust that articles labelled "peer reviewed" do, in fact, come from peer reviewed journals.
- Databases often offer content pertaining to a specific field or area of study, or content in a specific format (e.g. scholarly articles or streaming video). For example, the PubMed database provides peer-reviewed information pertaining to the medical and health professions, while ERIC provides information geared toward educators in a variety of formats.
Cons:
- Databases can range from broad and multi-disciplinary to very narrow and specific in terms of information content; so it's important not only to understand the content of the databases you are searching, but to also have a clear grasp on the scope and nature of your research question. That may sound a bit overwhelming out of context - but that's why you have a team of librarians at your disposal. We're always happy to talk databases with you!
Use when...
- you are looking for a specific format (image, video, text) or type (newspaper article, scholarly article) of information source
- you prefer an added layer of source reliability provided by database content curation
The Basics:
Search engines are software systems capable of searching across multiple information platforms or databases. Though Google may be one of the most well known search engines, it is not the only one at your disposal. Here are a few search engine options that will serve you well when searching for academically acceptable sources of information:
fUSIon
fUSIon is a discovery tool, or search engine, that simultaneously searches the entire Rice Library catalog (print, AV, and electronic resources), a good number of the library's subscription databases (scholarly articles, newspapers, etc.), the USI Archives' Digital Collections, and the library research guides.
Pros:
- Ability to search across multiple formats and databases
- Advanced search options for filtering results
- Save and organize searches and sources when logged in with myUSI credentials
- Ability to request non-full text articles through Interlibrary Loan from within fUSIon
Cons:
- Discovery of scholarly articles is limited to the content indexed in our subscription databases.*
*Some of our databases provide access to full text articles, while others provide access to information about those articles (e.g. citation info and abstracts). This means that even if we don't have full text access, you can still find out enough information about an article to request it for free through Interlibrary Loan. However, not all articles are indexed in all databases. So, when you are searching in fUSIon, just remember that you are searching the Rice Library's resource pool and not the entire known information universe!
- Does not search all of our databases.
Useful if...
- your research can benefit from a wide variety of information source formats
- your research topic is multi- or interdisciplinary
- you are in the early stages of a research project. When searching in fUSIon, keep an eye on which databases provide the best content for your research area. In the future, searching those databases individually might yield more focused search results with a higher concentration of relevant materials
1findr
The 1findr platform searches a curated index of over 90 million scholarly article records and provides full text access to over 27 million peer-reviewed open access (i.e. freely available) articles. Unlike fUSIon, 1findr is not limited to the information provided by USI's subscription databases - nor will it tell you automatically whether or not you have access to the full text of non-open access articles through USI's databases.
Pros:
- Facilitates discovery of peer-reviewed open access articles
- Provides abstracts and citation information for a greater number of articles than fUSIon
Cons:
- Not integrated with Rice Library systems. If an article in 1findr is not open access, you will want to use Journal Finder to check for full text availability.
Useful if...
- you wish to focus your search on peer-reviewed open access publications
- your searches in fUSIon or databases are not yielding enough results
Google Scholar
The Google Scholar engine searches an index of well over 100 million scholarly articles. As with 1findr, Google Scholar is not limited to the scope of USI's subscription database indexes; but unlike 1findr, Google Scholar does offer some integration with Rice Library databases if you are either searching on campus or have updated your Google Scholar library links settings to include the University of Southern Indiana.
Pros:
- Provides abstracts and citation information for a greater number of articles than fUSIon
- Allows for basic integration with some Rice Library resources
- Familiar search interface
Cons:
- Google Scholar's indexing criteria are not as strict as those of 1findr or scholarly database providers such as EBSCO and ProQuest. As a result, a search in Google Scholar might yield a greater number of results than one in another platform; but there is no real guarantee on the overall scholarly quality or integrity of those results. Many illegitimate ("predatory") journals that are filtered out by 1findr and other curated indexes still appear in Google Scholar searches.
Useful if...
- you are an experienced researcher and comfortable distinguishing between reputable and non-reputable publishers
- your searches in other platforms or databases have not yielded sufficient results