Specialized Databases Subjects guides were discussed before - chapters 4 & 5 - these are merely lists of URLs that are related to a particular topic. Specialized databases have the actual data! Specialized databases can be searched in a similar manner as search engines. They can be used to mine very reliable and current information pertaining to many particular subjects: medical journal articles, court decisions, company financial records, census data, patents, etc.

Bibliographic database - a database that includes citations that describe and identify titles, dates, authors, and other parts of written works. The works' full-text is NOT included in the database. Example: MEDLINE (Activity 8.1)

Commercial database - a database that must be purchased prior to use. Examples: FirstSearch, DIALOG, STN, and Lexis-Nexis

Full-text database - a database that includes a work's description AND does include the full-text of the works indexed by the database. Example: FindLaw: Supreme Court Opinions (Activity 8.3)

Proprietary database - See Commercial Database above

Specialized database - a database that doesn't just contain links like a subject guide, but also contains the actual data about a particular subject

Ways to Find Free Specialized Databases Listed by Ackermann & Hartman pp. 218-219

• Internet Public Library (IPL) Resource Center (virtual library - reference works, subject guides, specialized databases)
• Fossick.com (meta-search tool, a collection of databases) Site is "Up for Sale" as of 3/30/02
• Librarian's Index to the Internet (virtual library - reference works, subject guides, specialized databases)
• LibrarySpot
• Yahoo! (directory)
• FACSNET: Directory of Database Services
  (listing of fee-based online databases)
  Register at http://209.196.155.187/welcome.html first. You'll get a personal URL and a password.

Overview of Specialized Databases pp. 217-218

Bibliographic and Full-Text Databases p. 217

A & H compare bibliographic databases with full-text databases. Bibliographic databases contain ONLY descriptions, not the full-text. Full-text databases contain descriptions AND the full-text.

Proprietary and Free Databases p. 217-218

Proprietary databases, or commercial databases, require a fee to be paid prior to use. These fees support the development of these resources which offer features that free ones are unable to offer such as:

• Extra information helpful to researchers
• Links to library holdings so you can access the work
• Easier downloading for spreadsheet programs
• Listings of materials that others do not index
  - their information is unlike others since these materials may be:
  • unique
  • historical
  • private competitive financial information
• Information that is more reliable since the owners of the databases must be more responsible to their paid users (you often get what you pay for)

Accessing Fee-Based Databases p. 218

Visit FACSNET: Directory of Database Services which is a listing of fee-based online databases. This Web page is published by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. It is highly recommended that you ask your local librarians about what services they provide in the way of proprietary databases.

Finding Free Specialized Databases p. 218

Often specialized databases are listed in virtual libraries or they may appear as an item of a subject guide. Above, near the top of this page, you will find a list of sites that A & H have found to be very useful for locating specialized databases. Take a visit to these sites and see what's offered!

Visit The Scout Report for an update and review of what new search tools and resources have become available on the Web. (Use the link "Scout Weblog".)

Using Specialized Databases p. 219

Searching for Medical Information p. 220

A & H point out that there are many medical resources on the Web today that have been developed by doctors and medical centers. They specifically refer to Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy.

Do Activity 8.1 - MEDLINE via LII pp. 220-227

• Goal: Use the specialized database MEDLINE to locate Information on Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
• Visit Librarian's Index to the Internet
  • Enter http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/internetindex http://lii.org and press Enter
  • Click the Health link
  • Click on the MEDLINE link
  • Click on the Search MEDLINE: PubMed and Internet Grateful Med link (I did not find this specialized database listed, but I did see Entrez PubMed so I explored that one instead)
• Click on the Help link
• I had trouble trying to apply the text's steps from here on; I stopped at this point, but you can find ample information regarding various medical problems

Try to Do Activity 8.2 - Companies Online pp. 228-238

Try to Do Activity 8.3 - FindLaw pp. 238-243

Steps in book are still current with what's on the Web!

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Copyright © 2001, 2002, RGPatterson, all rights reserved; last revised: 3/30/02