Formats and Types of Information
- Formats and Types of Information
- General-Specific
- Scholarly-Popular
- Primary-Secondary
- Free-Fee
Free-Fee Information Types, page 2 of 2
The Sawyer Library subscribes (pays for access and use) to dozens of databases of varying types:
- bibliographic: basic descriptive information about indexed items such as author, title, etc. The library's online public access catalog (OPAC) is a bibliographic database.
- indexes: usually arranged by subject, topic or author, are used to organize and identify sources. Most indexes focus on a discipline or subject area. Most of these information types index journal articles, although there are exceptions. Indexes often include abstracts. Abstracts summarize the contents of the source indexed, so you do not have to read the entire information source to determine if it is appropriate for your research.
- journal indexes with some full text content: these popular databases are indexes of journal articles with abstracts and, often, but not always, they include the full text content of the article.
- journal indexes with all full text content: these databases include the full text for all articles indexed.
- full text content: databases based upon other document types such as dictionaries and encyclopedias. Types of full text include:
- HTML full text with, and without, images (tables, charts, etc). HTML is text-based, rather than image-based. Many articles were converted from print to HTML text in order to provide full text content. Text-based, full text content is cheaper to convert from print than is imaged text (pdf). In some databases, the charts will have been converted to plain text. In other databases, the charts will have been converted into images and loaded into the full text content like an image (picture).
- PDF full text. The entire source is imaged as it appeared in print.
- numeric databases: databases primarily of numeric tables. Examples include TableBase and StatUSA.
- image databases: art prints, photos, etc.
- audio databases: audio clips, music, speeches, sound effects, etc.
- mixed databases: combination of database types.
Here is a truism: there is nothing you can thoroughly research that is entirely or exclusively available through the Web. Use the Web; just use it cautiously and critically.