Effective Writing Center (EWC)

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Chapter 6 Table of Contents

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Chapter 6: Using Library Resources

Electronic Information Resources, the Internet, and the World Wide Web

Finding Journal Articles

Library Web Databases

The Internet is a global network of networks and is the largest network of computers in the world, growing at a rate of 10 percent each month. It may be helpful to think of the Internet as the wiring or hardware and the Web as the software of the Internet. The Web is a graphical interface to the information available on the Web. There are three components to the Web: Web documents, Web servers, and Web browsers. A Web document, typically referred to as a "page," is what you see when you are looking at a Web site. For example, if you traveled to UMUC’s Web page at http://www.umuc.edu, you would be viewing a Web document when you connected to our site. A Web server is the computer where Web documents are housed, and a Web browser is the tool you use to view Web documents. Most people are familiar with the Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browsers. These browsers make it possible to access Web servers and view Web documents.

There are two main types of Web-based information, (1) publicly available (free) Web information and (2) proprietary Web information. These are described here.

Publicly Available (Free) Web Information

These Web pages are most often considered to make up the entire Web. Nevertheless, not everything on the Web is available to all users. Web pages that are commonly made available without charge include company sites, educational institution home pages, government agency information sites, and Web pages produced by individuals. Publicly available Web pages make up the majority of the Web, but not the entire Web.
For example, the IBM home page can be found at http://www.ibm.com. IBM has made that site available to anyone on the Web primarily to advertise its products. Another example is the UMUC Web site at http://www.umuc.edu. This site presents information typical of the information most colleges and universities make available without charge as a public service.
Proprietary Web Information

Some of the information available on the Web is not open to all Web users. Proprietary, or privately owned information, requires a subscription or other unique access method because the information producer wants to ensure that only the people who have the right to view the information can access it. Examples of proprietary information delivered via the Web include journal literature databases, private company information on Intranets, and subscriber-based journals and newspapers.

For example, the Wall Street Journal is in the business of selling newspapers, so giving its product away on the Web would be counterproductive. Its Web site is set up to limit access to current subscribers with a password. The Journal does make a few Web pages available without charge, but the majority of the information it distributes on the Web is password-protected, so that only paying subscribers can access it.

It is important to remember that you can access many resources available via the Web but not all, and other people may not have the same access you do.

Now that you know the difference between freely available and proprietary information on the Web, you should know about the proprietary databases available to you as a UMUC student via the Web. The Office of Library Services has purchased over 65 databases that include the full text of journal articles, company directory data, and other documents that are available to you via the Library Services Web page at http://www.umuc.edu/library.

The direct link to the databases is available at http://www.umuc.edu/library. Once you go to this page, you will see a list of the databases by category. Access to them is restricted to UMUC faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students. If you use the databases in a UMUC computer lab, the databases will recognize your location and allow you to use them without any login or password. If you are trying to access these databases from outside of UMUC, you will need to identify yourself as a valid user by entering in your last name and barcode number (the 14-digit number on the back of your UMUC ID card).

The library databases are currently listed under nine broad categories. Because databases are continually added, the category names may change at any time. Please check the Library Services Web page at http://www.umuc.edu/library for the latest listing of specific databases available to you.

The Web databases contain many different types of information including journal articles, government documents, and company documents. Once you select a broad category, you will need to examine each database individually to determine the years covered, the type of information included, and whether the database includes any full-text documents. The types of information found under each category are described below.

General Research: Journal Databases

In this category, you will find journal databases that cover a myriad of subject areas. General research databases are those that skim across many fields and do not focus narrowly on a specialized field. If you are unsure where to begin your search, the journal databases in this category provide an excellent introduction to the journal literature of many different fields.

General Research: Reference Works

Reference works are resources, such as encyclopedias, that provide background information, including specific details or facts on a subject. Reference works may also point to other sources of information such as the database, WorldCat, which provides information on books and journals owned by libraries around the globe. If you are seeking a general overview of a topic, General Research: Reference Works would be the database at which to begin.

Business and Management

As its name implies, the databases in this category are specifically related to the study of business and management. If you seek information on any topic related to this field, this is the place to begin.

Computer Science

In this category, you will find documents and journal articles related to the study of computers and computing. These specialized databases include both popular and more scholarly information on computers and peripherals.

Humanities/Literature

The databases in this category cover the arts, literature, contemporary authors, literary biography, and music. If you are studying in any of these fields, begin searching for information on your topic here.

Law

The law category provides access to specialized databases that focus on topics related to the study of the law. Begin here for resources in the legal field.

News and Harvard Business Review

Coverage of local, regional, national, and international news is provided in this category. In addition, this category also includes full-text coverage of the Harvard Business Review, a core journal in the field of business and management.

Science, Technology, and Medicine

For coverage of science, technology, and medical topics, begin here.

Social and Behavioral Sciences

For information in the field of psychology, sociology, anthropology, geography, economics, political science, law, criminology, demography, and urban studies, you will want to begin by searching the databases in this category.

Now that you have a sense of what types of information are available through UMUC’s Web databases and of what types of services are available to you, it is important to review the process of identifying and retrieving journal articles, one of the main library resources you will use when you are doing a research paper or project.

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