Library databases offer a more organized information access system than search engines like Google. Databases offer superior searching capabilities and make it easier to evalute sources. The table below identifies some of the strengths of library databases and search engines.
|
|
Library Databases |
Search Engines |
|
General Information |
|
|
|
Looking up specific facts |
|
|
|
Most up-to-date information on developing news |
|
|
|
Numerous options to narrow or modify a search to find relevant information |
|
|
|
Identifying source types (book, newspaper, journal, etc.) |
|
|
|
Finding up-to-date scholarly information |
|
|
|
Identifying authors/creators and their qualifications |
|
|
|
Identifying edited and reviewed sources |
|
|
|
Identifying purpose of a source (informative, persuasive, commercial, etc.) |
|
|
|
Providing an open forum for expressing opinions |
|
|
Search engines like Google work for some purposes, but for academic research you will want to use library resources.
NEIU Ron Williams Library
On the library's home page use the Quick Search tab to access PRIMO discovery service. Quick Search searches the library's catalog and a number of the library's databases simultaneously.
The Searching for Information pages on this guide cover additional searching options.
