A database is a structured collection of records or data. A file cabinet of files and folders is a database. A spreadsheet of data is a database. A software program of searchable bibliographic library records is also a database and is more commonly thought of when the term "database" is used.
The ISU Library provides access to many electronic databases that are useful for research, study, and knowledge acquisition. Some are available for free to anyone but some are provided through a subscription paid by the Indiana State University Library.
Databases can be an efficient and effective way to search for information. Electronic databases use a search engine to simultaneously search, access, and retrieve relevant records from multiple journals and other sources eithin the database. Patrons enter into the search engine terms relevant to what they wants to know and the search engine retrieves records with those terms according to whatever rules were programmed into that search engine.
Different search engines work differently. They follow different rules for searching and ordering results. And different databases contain different records within them so it is useful to search more than one database if you are researching a topic thoroughly.
Search hedges (sometimes called search filters) are prewritten searches designed to perform a through search on a topic. They are often quite long, complicated strings intended to maximize the retrieval of results. Search strategies designed to maximize the retrieval of relevant results always capture some irrelevant results, too, rather than risk a few relevant results slipping through the net. Hedges can be saved and shared for others to paste into a database.
Search hedges are specific for the search features of a specific database and would need to be adapted for use in a different database. Please contact the librarians if you want assistance in adapting a search hedge.
A search on the Internet or in a database can find some search hedges. You must evaluate the hedge for quality. Some are better written than others. Please contact the librarians if you want assistance.
