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HIP101 Research Skills Guide: What and where are databases?

What is a database?

In most essays and assignments – including the HIP101 Assessment item 2 (Essay) - you are expected to locate relevant scholarly journal articles to support your arguments.

You can search for journal articles on a topic in Primo Search, but you can also search directly in a database or package of databases.

A database is an organised collection of information records that can be accessed electronically. In the Library, databases can have:

  • journal article (and other) citations, where there is no full-text
  • journal article (and other) citations, where all records have the full-text attached
  • a mixture of the two above (this is the most common)
  • other types of records or items - eg. videos, images, or listings of people or companies.

To locate databases, go to A-Z Databases. You can browse by database title/keyword, or by subjects category:

 

The Allied Health list should have all the databases you might need, including several Recommended databases. 

CINAHL Plus with Full Text is an important international database for allied health and nursing. It's in the EBSCOhost platform of databases (see below). For more on using CINAHL, please proceed to the next page.

Databases and database platforms

It helps to know the difference between a database and a database platform
Database Database Platform
An organised collection of information records that can be accessed electronically A company which provides access to a number of databases, via a search interface unique to that company, where the databases can be searched/browsed individually or together.
The 4 main database platforms, and examples of databases they contain:
Platform Database
EBSCOhost
  • CINAHL Plus with Full Text
  • Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition
ProQuest
  • Nursing and Allied Health Source
  • ANZ Newsstream
Informit
  • Health Collection
  • Rural & Remote Health
Ovid
  • MEDLINE
  • EBM Reviews - Full Text

Once you are in one of the database platforms, you can search across a number of databases at the same time. In some cases, the Library provides a package of subject-related databases that are in the same platform. Two examples are:

Online Journal articles explained

Charles Sturt University acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands on which its campuses are located, paying respect to Elders, both past and present, and extend that respect to all First Nations Peoples.Acknowledgement of Country

Charles Sturt University is an Australian University, TEQSA Provider Identification: PRV12018. CRICOS Provider: 00005F.