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American Memory: North Carolina educator's guide
Each article in this series features an in-depth look at one aspect of the Library of Congress' American Memory with a special focus on North Carolina materials.
Format: series (multiple pages)
Reading picture books: resources for teachers
Illustrations, picturebook finding aids, and great picture book websites.
By Melissa Thibault.
Accessing the American Memory collection: Searching
In American Memory: North Carolina educator's guide, page 2
Take a look at the second installment in the American Memory: North Carolina educator's guide and find out how to search the collections with success. You'll learn all kinds of tricks and techniques, and even explore the Library of Congress's latest search tool.
Format: article
By Melissa Thibault.
Recipe for Success
Students will use an electronic card catalog to find books by subject using the call number. This lesson was used in collaboration with a third grade thanksgiving unit. As part of the unit students were to find a recipe to prepare and bring to class.
Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Information Skills)
By Elizabeth Gibson and Melissa Withers.
Africa
Africa is a diverse continent not only geographically but also culturally. These rich resources bring African art, history, traditions, folklore and much more into the classroom.
Format: bibliography/help

Find all 52 resources in our collection.

A searchable electronic catalog or index that the library subscribes to, very much like a magazine subscription or cable service. It contains information from print resources such as newspapers, magazines, and reference books.

Additional information

The two most common kinds of library databases are article databases and reference databases.

Article databases:

  • Contain information about articles from magazines, journals, newspapers, and other periodicals.
  • Can contain citations, abstracts, or full-text.

For an example of an article database, check out Infotrac at the NCWiseOwl website.

Reference databases:

  • Contain entries from reference works such as encyclopedias, phone books, and dictionaries.
  • Are usually more subject specific than article databases.

For an example of a reference database, take a look at Scribner Writers at the NCWiseOwl website.

Often items in library databases can be printed or emailed. Many articles in library databases are also available in PDF format so the original graphics, photographs, or other images are included in the printable pages.

Library databases let you search quickly and easily for information on a topic without having to spend a ton of time looking through individual print resources. Like the index in the back of a book, library databases can be searched by elements such as keyword, author, title, subject, and date. These elements make up the catalog record of an individual article. Sometimes the catalog record also includes an abstract, or a short summary, of the article, which is searchable too.

Many databases have the option of searching the entire article; this is called full-text searching. Full-text searching returns many more hits than searching that is limited to a catalog record of the work. Keep in mind that when you enter your search terms into the library database, the library database may not automatically search the full-text of an article. The default search in most library databases will only search the catalog record, or the information about the article rather than the article itself.

If you use information from an item you locate in a library database for a writing assignment, research paper, or project, you must list that item in a bibliography. The library database will provide the information necessary for citation including author, title, publication, publisher, and date of publication. It is important to also indicate that the item was accessed through a library database. You will need to include the name of the library database you used, the URL, and the library (or organization) that provided you access to the database.

Here is an example of two citations for the same magazine article accessed two different ways — in print and in a library database.

Curry, Andrew. "Battlefield Rations." U.S. News & World Report, 15 August 2005: 44.

Curry, Andrew. "Battlefield Rations." U.S. News & World Report 15 August 2005: 44. InfoTrac Student Edition. Thompson Gale Databases. NC WiseOwl, 1 September 2005 .

Notice that NCWiseOwl is the organization that provided the access to the library database.

A few reasons why it is a good choice to use a library database to conduct research for your school assignment include:

  • Authority. Library databases contain works from professionally published sources and information is more likely to come from an expert on a particular topic. Unlike a website where it may be hard to tell who is responsible for the content, a library database clearly indicates the author and source.
  • Accuracy and currency. Information in library databases is checked for accuracy and library databases always include the date of publication.
  • Access. While websites don’t always have headings and navigation options that help you find what you need for your assignments, library databases offer options like related terms, search options to broaden or narrow the search, and other organizational tools that support your research.

Examples and resources

Some library databases available to North Carolina students are:

  • NC WiseOwl: Provided by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. No password is necessary when using public school computers, check with the Media Specialist to get a password for home access.
  • NC Live: Provided by public libraries and libraries at North Carolina’s institutions of higher learning. No password is necessary when using computers in an affiliated library; check with your public library for home access.