Library databases contain scholarly journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles, reports, and much more that probably won't be available freely on the Internet. That's because much of the materials needed to do proper research are behind paywalls. The library helps you by giving you access to these materials through databases.
Discovery - A discovery search is a kind of search that search multiple databases at once. This is great if you have a very developed search strategy, but just starting out it can be overwhelming when you return 1 million+ articles! Another downside to discover searches is that they do not search every database and often favor certain databases over others. Our discover search is called GALILEO Discover and is the default search on our homepage.
Multidisciplinary - Some databases cover many different discipline areas. These are great alternatives to discovery searching when you are first starting out. You will find articles from many different areas though, so be careful about what is appropriate for your topic and assignment. Examples include Academic Search Complete and Research Library.
Subject Specific - Most databases are subject-specific, which means they cover only one specific subject area or group of subject areas. This means that doing a search in these databases is narrowing your field down tremendously and you will only get results from the subject you are searching. Examples include SOCIndex or Political Science Database.
Publisher Specific - Some databases have only content from a specific publisher and can be multidisciplinary or subject-specific. For example, the database Science Direct only has content from the publisher Elsevier.
Specialized - Some databases have specialized content and can be used to find specific kinds of information. For example, Westlaw has information about legal cases and news stories.
Your topic is always the best determinant of which of the hundreds of databases in GALILEO or from the government will be most productive for you to use.You can browse GALILEO databases by subject here.
If you find scholarly journal articles difficult to navigate, take a look at Anatomy of a Scholarly Article, from NCSU.
Reminder!
Off-campus access to GALILEO requires your JagNet ID and password. This login is the same one that is used for D2L.
The following is a list of our main databases for the social sciences:
Multi-disciplinary database offering full-text coverage of information in mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences, humanities, and technology.
Provides electronic access to back issues (from the date of first publication) of selected, core journals, organized into the Arts and Sciences Collections I & II, the General Sciences Collection, the Ecology and Botany Collection, and the Business Collection.
Access to full-text books and journal articles from all subject collections published by Elsevier Science. Disciplines include health sciences, physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, and social sciences and humanities.
ProQuest Criminal Justice is a comprehensive database supporting research on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, as well as litigation and crime trends.
The database bridges theory with practice by providing information geared to those interested in careers in criminal justice, law enforcement, corrections, drug enforcement, rehabilitation, family law, and industrial security; as well as scholars and other researchers who study the causes, trends, and societal impacts of crime.
As one of the largest publishers in the world, the US government publishes much of its resources for free online. Materials that aren't available online can be found in federal repositories. The Reese Library's Government Information Department is a federal repository located on the 2nd floor. Here you can find thousands of documents and a friendly staff to help locate government publications.
Much of the US government's information can be found online, here are popular databases produced for public use:
GovInfo : official database for digital government information
Congress.gov : official source for federal legislative information (replacing THOMAS)
Census.gov : source for data related to a wide-range of information about economics, demographics, education, etc.
Data.gov: official source for governmental statistics and data
Bureau of Economic Analysis : source for US economic information
HealthFinder : source for government-related health information from the DHHS
NCES : source for education statistics from the DOE.
NCJRS : source for information related to criminal justice
Occupational Outlook Handbook: premier source for labor-related statistics
CIA World Factbook : comprehensive source on countries around the world
State & Local Governments also publish information online. Often, you can go to the department or agency and find information on their website.