Skip to Main Content

Deadly Contagions: Pandemics Past, Present, & Future - SOC 845

Sources and search suggestions for the Gen Ed course

Use Databases to Find Articles

What makes Databases different than search engines like Google Scholar?

Research databases uniformly structure the information about a source - they index, describe, and add subject terms to articles records -- all of which makes it easier to find relevant material.  Look for Subject Terms or Descriptors or MeSH terms in the database records, which you can click on or search for to narrow your search to articles primarily on your topic.

Search engines like Google Scholar and AI tools don't have subject terms or descriptors added to records, but they do search full-text, so an unusual word might work to focus a search. On the other hand, the full-text search brings up many less relevant sources.