Library Guides: Ornithology Research Skills Guide: Journal Databases

What is a database?

Journal databases are collections of journals, articles, conference papers, reports, and more, generally arranged by subject. Some will only list abstracts of their collection – ie, they will tell you about the item, but you have to find it somewhere else - and some will hold the item itself. The strength of journal databases is that they are subject specific, they have many options for expanding or refining your search results, and they will link between themselves, so that an abstract found on one database can help you find the full text if it is held elsewhere.

Charles Sturt University subscribes to many Journal Databases on your behalf. These databases have been categorised by subject area to help you find what you're looking for more effectively. There are also some journal databases that Primo Search and Google Scholar cannot search.

What databases to use for Ornithology

ProQuest Biological Science Database
ProQuest Biological Science Database is one of many databases available in the ProQuest platform. It includes just under 400 titles, with more than 325 of these available in full-text.

Subjects covered include biological chemistry; biophysics; botany; cytology and histology; environmental studies; microbiology; microscopy; and zoology.

Titles available in this database include:
* Systematic Biology
* Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
* Plant Cell
* Bioscience.

Coverage is from 1992 - current.

Once you are in the ProQuest platform, you can change to any other ProQuest database by clicking on the hamburger menu at the top left of screen, then on Change databases. Other science-related databases in ProQuest include ProQuest Science Database and the ProQuest SciTech Premium Collection. The latter actually incorporates a number of databases. All ProQuest databases can be searched individually or in combination.
Wiley Online Library
A database of eJournals and eBooks published by John Wiley & Sons. Subjects covered range across all disciplines: Business; Education; Law; Medicine; Science; Social Sciences; the Humanities; and the Arts.

Charles Sturt Library subscribes mainly to eJournals in this database, but in 2011 commenced subscriptions to eBooks, so results of searches might include eBook results.

Charles Sturt has access to most of this collection in full-text. It is not possible to limit a search to full-text-only results, but in the results-list the full-text items are denoted by an unlocked-padlock icon.

Users can search the collection using a simple or advanced search, and can browse by publication or subject area.

The dates of journal coverage dates vary from journal to journal.
Scopus
A multi-subject abstract and citation database of research literature. Known for its citation-tracking and bibliometric features.

Scopus is an abstract and citation database of research literature which offers coverage of more than 22,000 journals, and more than 150,000 books, from more than 5,000 publishers. There are nearly 70 million records and 1.4 billion cited references. Most records date since 1996 but Scopus has recently added records dated from 1970 - 1995.

Scopus does not in itself include the full-text of articles, but many records in a results list will have a View at publisher link. If that link doesn't work, use the Find it link to search for the full article via Primo Search.

Subject coverage includes:
* Life Sciences
* Health Sciences
* Physical Sciences
* Social Sciences & Humanities.

Scopus has a number of specialised features relating to bibliometrics which are mainly used by higher degree researchers. But one feature that might have wider application is the ability to use the View Cited By function to find articles that cite your selected articles(s). You can also sort your results list by citation count.

A note on access for academic/research staff: If you are academic/research staff and require access to your Charles Sturt researcher profile, please use this link - https://www.scopus.com - and sign in using the "Access through your Institution" option. Type Charles Sturt University into the search box and follow the prompts.

Searching in a database

Try it now

Go to the ProQuest database, and try typing in the keywords – foraging behaviour and King Penguins (you may need to sign in first with your CSU username and password)

Notice the number of results you get? Much less than Primo Search and Google Scholar? Being a Science database, you should find these much more relevant to your topic.
Look at the HTML and PDF links to access the full text of the article.
If you cannot find the full text click on the button to check if the article is available elsewhere.