Art History and Visual Culture: Finding and using library resources: 5. Research databases

Why should I use a database?

• They are a valuable way of searching for published scholarly research across a wide number of sources
• You can build complex searches using sophisticated search interfaces. There will be plenty of options to refine your searches, ensuring that the results are likely to be relevant to your needs
• They contain huge numbers of records, and thus provide comprehensive subject coverage
• They also provide frequent (often daily) indexing, and so are very up to date

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:

It is important to note:

• Some databases provide full text access to the articles themselves.
• Some databases are primarily indexes or bibliographic databases, and although they provide information about the content of a journal article, they may not provide full-text access to the actual article itself.
• Some databases are a mixture of full-text and indexed/bibliographic access.

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.

Watch this video to find out how to use Grove Art (Part of the Oxford Art Online collection)

Click here for help with advanced searching.