A database is an organised collection of information records that can be accessed electronically. In the Library this includes databases which 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 first two above (this is the most common);
- other types of records, eg. videos, images, or listings of people or companies.
A database platform is 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
|
Ovid |
|
Informit |
- Health Collection
- Rural and Remote Health Database
|
It is important to realise that, 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 of this are: