Databases: What, Where, and Why
Essentially, a database is a collection of information that's been brought together, described and codified in some way, and then made searchable by a user.
The key point to remember about any library database -- and Harvard has hundreds -- is that it is constructed intentionally. Some things are included and some are not (you're never searching "everything") but there's always a principle of similarity among the information a database contains.
Sometimes, that similarity will be a format --a database can be made up of all news articles, for example, or public opinion polls, or visual images.
Sometimes the unifying feature is language, a geography (e.g. a database on Latin America), a particular time period (a database covering the Middle Ages or the 19th century, for example), or some combination of these things.
Research projects here at Harvard will often require you to look close up at a body of inquiry produced by scholars in a particular academic field. We call these subject databases.
Every academic discipline -- Anthropology to Zoology and all the fields in-between -- has at least one subject database that's considered the disciplinary gold standard: a reliable, (relatively) comprehensive, and accurate record of the books that scholars are publishing, and the ideas they're debating and discussing in important and influential journals.
Librarians and course instructors will always know the premier research database in a field, so ask them for recommendations when you're not sure.
Subject databases function like lenses: they can change what you see in research and how you see it -- and they offer you easy and efficient ways to bring your questions into sharper focus.
Five Top Picks
Pubmed HARVARD KEY
Why: Produced by National Library of Medicine in DC, this is the gold standard for identifying research (and clinical practice) in the biological and life sciences. Topics also includethe social, political, and cultural implications (including ethical questions) of biomedical research and medical practices.
Global Health HARVARD KEY
Why: Excellent for its focus specifically on public health, including in an international context.
Philosopher's Index HARVARD KEY
Why: Questions of morality and ethics (including medical and health contexts) are covered here.
Policy Commons:Public Health and Social Care HARVARD KEY
Why: Offers you expert opinion from sources adjacent to the academic/scholarly conversations you'll be reading, including those produced by governments, think tans, foundations, IGOs, NGOs, and other practitioner communities
- Pro Tip: Make a free login before you search for the first time. And note the search conventions here are much like those you use in HOLLIS.
Sociological Abstracts HARVARD KEY
Why: Covers social structures, social policy, social theory, social care, and more, and includes international perspectives.
Two More You Might Try
JSTOR Harvard Key
Why: This database allows you to search across time-tested, core academic publications in knowledge fields including public health, science, public policy, and philosophy -- disciplines, among others, which are likely to debate and discuss issues of medical ethics in detail.
GOOGLE SCHOLAR
Why: GS searches differently from most library databases, including HOLLIS. In addition to searching "metadata" (lots of descriptive info about a book or article), it also searches full-text . This can be an additional advantage when you've got a very narrow topic or are seeking a "nugget" that traditional database searching can't surface easily.
