Information Basics
Tools for Finding Information
This section is not intended to teach students all of the functionality of the catalog and databases. The goal is to help them be able to identify the correct tool to use for different formats of information. Hint: make sure the search terms are simple enough to return a variety of results in all three tools.
- Library Catalog
- Databases
- Internet Search Engines
Use to find books, videos, CDs, scores, magazine titles, microfilm, etc…that are found within the Libraries’ collections.
Use to find magazine, journal, or newspaper articles. Some databases provide the actual article (full-text) and some give citations only.
Use to find widely-available web-based information or news about current events.