To search Watson Library's collection of over 200 different databases, go to the Databases & Collections tab on the library website, and select the link for Databases A-Z.
(If you are off campus, you will be sent through single sign-on to use the library databases.)
Hint: a good database to start with is Academic Search Complete. Academic Search Complete has articles from a wide range of both popular and scholarly journals, and covers a wide variety of topics
For more information about using EBSCO databases, see the tutorial HERE.
Why do you want to search in a Database? And how is that different from searching in WC Discover?
In many ways, it isn't - you can do the same types of searches in a database that you do in WC Discover, and you can even find articles in WC Discover. But unlike WC Discover, which casts a wide net, the databases you have access to through Watson Library are often very specific, focusing on one subject or topic, like sports, agriculture, or medicine. And databases allow you to search for individual articles from journals, magazines, and newspapers with a lot more detail.
As a general rule of thumb, if you are looking for a book or ebook, start with WC Discover. If you are looking for an article, especially a scholarly journal article or peer reviewed article, start with a database.
Here are a sampling of some of the most used subject-specific databases.
MEDLINE (PubMed) provides free access to MEDLINE, the NLM database of more than 11 million bibliographic citations and abstracts in the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, health care systems, and preclinical sciences. Includes access to additional selected life sciences journals not in MEDLINE. Links to the full-text of articles at participating publishers web sites. Links to the molecular biology databases maintained by NCBI. Interface developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM), located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Links to full-text of selected articles are available using this URL to access PubMed.
EBSCO also offers their own mobile app experience, click here to learn more.
Comprehensive database for sports medicine, fitness, coaching, exercise physiology, biomechanics, much more, with over 240 full text journals. SPORTDiscus offers international coverage of journal and magazine articles; books and book chapters; conference proceedings; and dissertations and theses. Contains mostly applied research rather than basic science research.
EBSCO also offers their own mobile app experience, click here to learn more.
ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) is an authoritative database of indexed and full-text education literature and resources. Sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education, it is an essential tool for education researchers of all kinds.
EBSCO also offers their own mobile app experience, click here to learn more.
A scholarly journal article is an article that has gone through peer review before being published in an academic journal.
Peer Review is the process of submitting an author’s scholarly work or research for review by other experts in the same field.
Most articles in a Scholarly or Academic Journal are Peer Reviewed, but not necessarily all – be careful of editorials, opinion pieces, or book reviews.
If your professor tells you to use articles that are "peer reviewed," "scholarly," or "from an academic journal" - they mean the same thing.
Most of our library databases will have an option to limit search results to JUST peer reviewed.
For more information on scholarly journal articles, watch this video from University of Washington Libraries HERE.
