LibGuides: ESL & ELL Research Guide: Finding Information

Quick Search

Go to the library's home page. Make sure Quick Search is underlined. Type in your search terms and hit enter. You are searching a number of the library's databases at once. You will find different types of resources including books and articles.

Individual Databases

Searching one database at a time can help focus your search. Use the Databases A-Z option on the library's home page to see a list of individual databases. Below are a few of the library's databases.

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window Academic Search Complete is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and a total of more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,400 journals.
ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) via EbscoHost This link opens in a new window The largest education database in the world, containing over 1.6 million records. Includes journal articles, books, conference papers, reports, policy papers, and other education related-materials. Coverage from 1966 to the present. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
Business Source Premier This link opens in a new window Provides information from business, marketing, management, accounting, finance and economics. Business Source Premier has more than 2,300 journals 1,100 peer-reviewed titles, and includes magazines, newspapers and periodicals. Also included are company profiles, industry profiles, market research reports and country reports. The database provides full text back to 1886, and searchable cited references back to 1998.
This database is provided by the South Dakota State Library and the Institute of Museum Library Services.

Ask a librarian or consult research guides for recommendation on which individual database to use.

Using Library Databases

NEIU Library (1:23)

Continue Searching

Use the database to help you search.
- Look for options to modify your search, such as limiting by date or by source type.
- Look for different terms to describe your topic. For example, when looking for information on cell phones you discover that smartphones and mobile communication systems are possible search terms.

Learn more about your topic. As you research you become more familiar with terminology and better able to identify organizations involved in the subject area. This knowledge will help conduct more focused seaches.

For more information consult the Search Strategies pages of the library's Reseach 101 guide.

Look for Multiple Sources on Your Topic

NCSU Libraries (2:08)

Searching the Open Web

When you use a search engine like Google or Bing you are searching the open Web. You can find useful sources, but will have to evaluate them carefully as they are not neccessarily edited or reviewed like most of those found in library databases.

Web vs. Library Sources

Web Sources	Library Sources (Databases & Catalogs)
Accessed via a search engine (Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc.).	Accessed through library Web site.
Most information is free.	Access paid for by tuition and taxes.
Open access permits anyone to participate.	Editors and publishers control participation.
Information organization and information quality are highly variable.	Source types (books, magazines, journals, etc.) can be identified and this information helps in the evaluation process.
Review process is highly variable.	Sources usually undergo an editorial process.
May be difficult to locate information on who created or sponsored the site and the currency of the information.	Often easier to find information on authors, editors, publishers, and the currency of the information.