Conducting Library Research

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Databases and Electronic Indexes are collections of information stored on CD-ROM's, the Internet or commercial Web sites generally accessible only through a subscription. The information they contain is organized into electronic fields, records and files so that a computer program-or database management system-can easily find requested items. Their organization is much like that of a filing cabinet:

• An electronic field is one piece of information: one electronically digitized journal article.
• An electronic record is a collection of fields: one folder containing ten related journal articles.
• An electronic file is a collection of records: one drawer containing 100 folders, each containing ten related journal articles.
• An electronic database management system is the whole filing cabinet: four drawers, each containing 100 folders, each of which contain ten related journal articles.

Some databases provide information that is primarily numeric, such as government census data. Other databases, like the Modern Language Association's MLA Online, contain primarily textual information. Hypertext databases, on the other hand, will contain a wide variety of electronically digitized information ranging from word documents and photographic images to audio and video feeds.

When a database presents information about other publications, such as books, periodicals, or government documents, it is called an electronic index. They are the electronic equivalent of print-format indexes-like the Periodical Index-found in the library Reference Room.

More about databases and electronic indexes.