Welcome! This guide is an introduction to the library's databases that provide access to peer-reviewed journal articles, eBooks, reference works, as well as magazine and newspaper articles.

Why should you use the databases when you have the Internet at your fingertips?

Not everything is on the Internet! 

For example, most scholarly journals are not available on the Internet. You're likely to hit a paywall that stops you from accessing a journal article for free on the Internet. 

Quality control on the Internet is not guaranteed

Unlike the publications in the databases, not all websites have editors or peer-reviewers checking and evaluating the quality of the information.

Online journals may appear to be peer-reviewed, scholarly publications, but could be predatory journals! Predatory journals charge authors to have their articles published even though there is usually no peer-review oversight. The articles can be low quality or even scams despite the convincing titles of the journals. See a list of predatory journals and publishers at Open Access below.

Open Access Journals list of Predatory Journals

Open Access Journals' mission is to provide free access to quality scholarly research and dissertations. There are many predatory online publications that purport to be scholarly, but are not. Open Access Journals have compiled a list of suspicious journals and publishers.

Databases provide more search tools to narrow and refine your search

The databases allow you to limit your results by type of publication, date, and use keywords to narrow your search.