Library Orientation for Graduate and Professional New Students

What's a Database?

You may not know it, but you use databases every day!  Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon are all databases.  You'll use library databases to find articles.  The word "database" in the library world refers to an online, searchable index of records for various materials, mostly articles, which will contain:

• An abstract or summary of the article.
• The citation for the article (title, authors, journal name, year of publication etc.).
• Key subject terms added to the record by professional indexers who've read the article and identified its main topics.
• A link/button where you can get (or request) the full article.

The library has hundreds of databases that cover all subjects and disciplines at Loyola.  Because there are so many be sure to bookmark the database A-Z List to search for articles that are related to your topic.