DBs & Search Engines

Guilford Technical Community College

GTCC

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Jamestown, NC 27282

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Library Databases vs. Search Engines -
What's the Difference?

First let's clear up one big misconception that is:
"All the information in the world is available on the Internet."

Actually, only a small fraction of the world of information is available on the Internet. Think of all the books and magazines that were published before the invention of computers and networks. Much of the published information out there now is available only in print. Copyright law is one reason why much information is not online. Copyright protects authors and publishers from other people reproducing their work without permission. How would an author or publisher make money if people could get everything for free on the Internet?

Library Databases vs. Search Engines - The only similarity between these two resources is that they are both accessible via the Internet. Now let's take a look at the major differences between them:

Library Databases	Search Engines
Types of Information Retrieved: library catalog journal articles magazine articles newspaper articles reference book articles online books	very few journal, magazine & newspaper articles current news and information company information information from all levels of government personal web pages advertisements pornography e-mail, chat rooms, newsgroups, listservs
Review Process: All information contained in library databases comes from publishing groups and goes through a review process before it is published in electronic or print format. This means the information has been checked for accuracy and reliability by the publisher's editors. Students should still evaluate information found in library databases since there is plenty of published information that can be inaccurate or biased. It is also important to determine if the information is relevant or appropriate for your research topic. For a checklist of evaluation criteria, click here.	The Internet is not owned or controlled by any one organization or group which means information or web pages found through search engines DOES NOT go through a review process. This lack of authority allows anybody to publish their opinions and ideas on the Internet. While this information may be interesting, some of it may not be useful for academic research. Pages may be written by an expert on a topic or a journalist but many pages may also be written by a disgruntled consumer or sixth grader. In view of this, web pages found through search engines should be carefully evaluated for their accuracy and reliability. For a checklist of evaluation criteria, click here.
Cost / Accessibility: Library databases are NOT FREE. The library pays each database service vendor (company) a yearly fee for access to their databases. GTCC students may access many of these databases from home or outside the library by using a username and password provided by the library. To request remote access to GTCC's library databases, click here.	Most search engines and web pages found through search engines are FREE. Search engines will also find links to proprietary web sites or databases that are not free or do not allow access without a username and password.