Why use databases?

Why Use Databases?

Databases are subscription resources that bring articles from a variety of magazines and/or journals into one place with a sophisticated search engine. Many of the databases allow you to read the entire article online. All databases that UMD Libraries subscribe to can be accessed through Database Finder.

Library Databases vs Search Engines

This tutorial explains the differences between a subscription based library database and a free search engine. It explains when and how to use each.

What if there is no full-text? Try:

Request article from another library

Most Useful Databases

Core Databases

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The University of Maryland subscribes to hundreds of article databases and each one covers a specific range of subjects. Below is a list of databases which you may find helpful in locating articles on your topic of interest.

However, there are many more listed in Database Finder.

Questions? Please don't hesitate to contact me at nevenka@umd.edu.

Astrophysics Data System The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a Digital Library portal for researchers in Astronomy and Physics, operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) under a NASA grant. The ADS maintains three bibliographic databases containing more than 8.1 million records: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics, and arXiv e-prints"
IEEE Xplore Provides full-text access to IEEE transactions, journals, magazines and conference proceedings published since 1988 and all current IEEE Standards. Includes access to Bell Labs Technical journal Archive (BLTJA) 1922-2015
Inspec Archive - Science Abstracts 1868-1968 Produced by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Inspec Archive - Science Abstracts 1890-1968 is a leading bibliographic archive covering 70 years of international scientific and technical literature Abstracts cover physics, electrical engineering, electronics, computing and control engineering.
IOPScience Journals Database of articles covering different areas of science and engineering from over 60 journals published by the Institute of Physics from 1874 to the present. Not all journals are available in full-text.
NTRL Covers U.S. government-sponsored research and reports from federal agencies including technical research reports, journal articles, data files, computer programs and audio-visual products. 1964 - current
Web of Science Core Collection The Web of Science Core Collection provides comprehensive coverage of the sciences, social sciences, and arts, and humanities across journals, books and conference proceedings. It indexes more than 5,700 major journals across 164 scientific disciplines. The best database for finding what papers have cited other papers. Cited references can be traced forward in time. Web of Science Training Materials available here: http://wokinfo.com/training_support/training/web-of-science
ScienceDirect Peer-reviewed, full text database containing electronic book and journal titles covering the fields of science, technology and medicine. In addition to keyword searches, the image search and value added content associated with the publication can be found in the form of audio, video and datasets. Extensive coverage of the physical and biological sciences, significant numbers of journals in the social sciences, and some journals in the humanities. Dates of abstracting and indexing vary. Full text prior to 1995 often going back to vol. 1, iss. 1 Author searches are done on the last name only. Subject searches are supported, but subjects are not presented within the records. Truncation is not supported in phrases.
Scitation Search more than 100 journals from AIP, APS, ASCE, ASME, SPIE, and a host of other prestigious science and engineering journals.
PROLA Indexes all APS journal material published from 1893 to present. American Physical Society.

Other Databases

Databases for preprints, and other resources for physics

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Applied Physics Lab Technical Digest
Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is a not-for-profit center for engineering, research, and development. Located north of Washington, DC, APL is a division of one of the world's premier research universities, The Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
ArXiv, E-Print Archive
Contains research papers in physics, mathematics, non-linear science, computer science, quantitative biology and statistics. ArXiv represents up-to-date research including preprints, authors prefered versions and additional material. New materials added daily.
INSPIRE
High-energy physics related articles, including journal papers, preprints, e-prints, technical reports, conference papers, and theses. The SPIRES-HEP database has been run by the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center(SLAC) since the late 1960's.
SPIRES (High-Energy Physics Literature Database)
Search more than 500,000 high-energy physics related articles, including journal papers, preprints, e-prints, technical reports, conference papers and theses, received by the SLAC and/or DESY Libraries since 1974.

Physics

Why use databases?

Most Useful Databases

Core Databases

Other Databases

Databases for preprints, and other resources for physics