Research databases provide references to published information.

Most research databases are also called periodical indexes. They include the citations, abstracts, and/or the full text of articles that originally appeared in print magazines, journals and newspapers.

There are also research databases that provide articles and information from reference books and directories.

Research databases purchased by the OCC Library are accessible from the library website. The library also owns print indexes, good for researching retrospective information. For example, the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature print index at OCC goes back to 1929!

Use a Research Database

• when you want to find articles on your topic in magazines, journals or newspapers
• when looking for information also published in directories and other reference book resources

Examples of Research Databases

• Expanded Academic ASAP (Infotrac) (a general periodical index)
• Biography Resource Center (an index to both periodical articles and reference books)
• Health Source Nursing/Academic Edition (EBSCOhost) (a nursing periodical index)

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