Understanding Databases|Staley Library| Millikin University

What is a database?

A database is a collection of information, usually in electronic format, that is organized in a manner that allows a user to easily retrieve information about the individual items included in the database.
A database contains records. Each record contains all of the information in the database for an individual items.
Each record is composed of fields. A field defines the individual elements of each record.

A phonebook's Yellow Pages are an example of a database.

Each entry is a record.

Each record contains the following fields:

business name
address
phone number

Note the See Also references. These refer you to other locations in the book that might provide the information you need.

Looking at electronic databases

Remember card catalogs? They provided us with only three fields to locate books or other items. We could search for:

Author
Title
Subject

Electronic databases allow us to search these fields plus many more. Below is an example of a database record, in this case an article, from Academic Search Premier.

What kind of information are you looking for?

There are many different databases that contain records for a wide variety of sources of information. Before beginning to search in a database you must first determine if the information contained in the database is appropriate for your needs. Understanding the formats information is in can help you decide where to begin searching. The Selecting Sources page will help you determine the best place to start.