Answer
Last Updated: Jun 21, 2022     Views: 841

A database is an organized collection of information that can be searched in an efficient manner. Databases are not the same thing as search engines like Google or Bing. You may be using a number of databases without even knowing it. Examples of databases include: 

iTunes serves as a good database to compare with library databases. Each of these databases contain different types of information in various formats and are organized by various criteria:

    iTunes   Library Databases
  Type   music, videos, books, etc.     articles, journals, books, videos, statistics, etc.  
  Organization     album, artist, genre   author, title, subject

 

Library databases may include records of articles, books, dissertations, conference proceedings, videos, sound recordings, reports, statistics, images, and more. Some databases are organized for specific subjects, such as PubMed for health/medicine or PsycINFO for psychology. Others are multidisciplinary and cover many subjects, such as Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, or ProQuest Central. In addition, some databases are organized for specific formats, such as Films on Demand for streaming videos or ARTstor for images. See the complete list of Healey Library's databases.