What is a database?

A database contains information. Database are accessed through computers. Databases can cover specific subjects or many different topics.

As a member of Middletown Thrall Library, you enjoy access to full text article databases, which contain complete articles as well as abstracts (article summaries) from magazines, scholarly journals, newspapers, and other publications.

Encyclopedias, language learning guides, auto repair manuals, classical and world music services, and much more are available to you!

Why use databases?

Databases can contain a much higher quality of information than is typically found on the Internet. On the Internet, anyone can publish information, and you might have no way of knowing if that information is accurate, up-to-date, or free of bias or propaganda.

Databases can help you find better information faster, especially since they contain many "peer reviewed" articles, which means that information has been examined by professionals or scholars prior to publication.

Databases can save you money! Often you will be asked to pay to access an article through a newspaper or journal website. Because Thrall subscribes to numerous databases on your behalf, you, as our patron, have FREE ACCESS to all that information at the library or through our website!

Other databases are made available through the New York State NOVEL program, increasing your research powers with high quality sources.

Databases also offer powerful search options and often empower you to discover related information within a few clicks. When you're serious about doing research, databases can be tremendously helpful!

More about the articles in databases...

Articles in databases are usually as good as the ones you find in print. Many articles are available as PDFs (Adobe's Portable Document Format), which display an article as it was originally printed, along with any photos or illustrations. Many computers come with the Adobe Reader. If you do not have it, you can download it for free from www.adobe.com.

If you have an e-mail account, you usually can e-mail copies of articles to yourself for FREE. If at the library, you can print articles at $ .20 a page.

Many articles include citation information. We also have books at Reference that will explain how to document electronic articles and sources in your research papers.