HLTB15: Introduction to Health Research Methodology

Once you've identified what you need to search, you need to decide where to search for it. Research databases are an excellent place to look for scholarly information on a topic.

Why Use Research Databases?

• They are often specialized by subject area (e.g. public health)
• They contain information not available through public resources like Google
• They are designed with scholars and researchers in mind - that's you!

While doing your research, it's a good idea to look in more than one place for your articles. Why, you may ask?

• Databases contain different content: You may notice some overlap between the search results of different databases; however, each database also contains unique results. By searching one and not the other, you a) risk missing out on valuable information, and b) bias your search by excluding relevant materials.
   
• Databases operate differently: Not all databases search the same way, and so you may need to tweak your search strategy to match the requirements of a specific database. 

The UTSC Library subscribes to many research databases. You can search these databases to connect to articles on your topic. Different databases are good for different topics. Select the one that makes sense for what you need to find. You may need to try your search in more than one to figure out which will be best.