Databases provide access to scholarly research, including journal articles, conference proceedings and books.
What is a database?
Research databases enable you to see what has been published in the area you are researching. They contain detailed records of thousands of journal articles, book references and conference proceedings. These records usually include the article title, authors, abstract (a brief summary), keywords (to enable your search to find it) and more.
Why should I use a database?
There are many different databases. Their interfaces will all vary, and they may use different terminology.
However, they all have similar features. Once you are familiar with these, you'll be able to find your way around different databases. You can see the main features in the examples below.
This is what a standard database interface looks like:
Once you click the Search button, the results page appears:
Take a look at the Database Search tutorial for a further look at how to search within a database.
It is important to note:
So, when searching databases, be prepared for an extra step.
After finding a relevant article or book you need to check whether you have access to that item, either in print or in full-text online. Many of the databases will have a Check for this at Exeter button; clicking on this link will check whether we have access to the item.
The British Nursing Database is a core uk nursing, midwifery and healthcare literature database.
Cinhal is a core nursing, midwifery and healthcare literature database.
Watch the search tutorial to get to know the EBSCOhost platform.
Medline (PubMed) is a research database covering all aspects of medical and biomedical research. There are a number of useful features and tools available to improve your search. Some of the key features are highlighted in the following tabs. Explore the Medline (PubMed) guide to learn more.
From Display Settings, select a sort by option. Sort options include: Recently Added, Publication Date, First Author, Last Author, Journal, Title and Relevance.
N.B.The recently added date is the date a record was initially added to PubMed, not the publication date.
You can use the Send to menu to manage your search results.
Send to Clipboard
This is a way of temporarily saving your results (the contents of the Clipboard will be lost after 8 hours of inactivity). You can select the references you want to save - or don't select any if you want them all - and then choose Send to Clipboard.
Once you have saved your items you can continue searching, and access your results again by clicking on the clipboard link on the right hand side.
Save searches permanently by creating an account with My NCBI.
Send to email
Select the option to send to email. You can choose in which format you would like to receive your results (it is useful to include the abstract).
Send to citation manager
You can use this option to send your results to referencing managing software, such as EndNote.
The APA PsycInfo database covers psychiatry, psychology and mental health literature.
Watch the Ovid search tutorial to get to know the platform.
Web of Science is a large multidisciplinary research database covering all subject areas.
You can use it to discover the global literature on a wide range of topics. It is not a full text database, but you can use it to discover published material and follow links through to discover the full text available on other services. For in depth guidance explore the Web of Science learning site, YouTube Videos or the Web of Science LibGuide.
