The Research Process

Use library databases to access:

• articles, abstracts, and citations from periodicals
  • periodicals include newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, etc.
• a large selection of current reference books
  • encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, etc.
• a large collection of other e-books
  • a variety of books on a wide range of topics
• multimedia resources
  • streaming video and audio, art images, etc.

About database access

These databases are available because the library subscribes to them: most of the resources they contain are not available for free on the open web. (Most resources found in databases are not considered "web" sources because they are aggregated from other published, edited sources.)

If you're not on campus, you'll be prompted to log in – use either your MyAACC username and password or the barcode number from your Truxal Library card. If you're on any AACC campus, no login is required.

These large, multidisciplinary databases contain journals, magazines, newspapers, and more. Because they span a huge range of topics and source types, they're a good place to start.

• See Journals vs. Magazines to learn more about the difference between these kinds of periodicals and when to use them.
• Remember, you can't use citations and abstracts as if they are the full text of articles. You must get the full text to use information in a paper or other presentation, or to cite the work at all.
  • A citation contains the information a person needs to locate a specific source.
  • An abstract is a summary of an article or other work.
  • If the abstract sounds promising but you're having trouble finding the full text, reach out to a librarian for help.
• Keep track of any sources that may be helpful.
  • A simple way to do this is by saving a list of citations. You can often copy auto-generated citations from inside the database – you may need to clean them up before putting them in a paper, but they should contain enough info to get back to the source. If you can't find a citation easily, make note of key information: author/s, book or article title, journal or periodical title (for articles), publisher information, publication date, etc.