Choosing an appropriate database, or periodical index, is an essential part of research. How are you going to choose among those available from your library?

Library databases organize particular types of materials. Some index citations for government documents, conference proceedings, book reviews, or magazine and journal articles. Others, like GIL, the online library catalog , focus on a particular collection. Knowing what type of information you are looking for will make your selection easier.

Most library databases specialize in a particular subject. There are databases for education, business, anthropology, engineering, and architecture - virtually every academic discipline! Other databases, like Academic Search Premier are more general or multi-disciplinary, indexing popular and scholarly periodicals from a wide variety of topics.