Accessing the library databases is easy: from the Library home page, click the button that says "Library Databases" – or, since you're here, just visit our A-Z Library Database page at the link below!
The A-Z Database List is a searchable list of all of the databases the IUP Libraries has to offer. Use the subject dropdown to pick the topic area best for you, and you'll get a list of databases with a focus on that subject - including some Best Bet places to start your research.
Many databases we provide to library users are multidisciplinary, covering a wide range of topics.
Databases like this are a great place to start your searches. Just remember that they won't be as in-depth as a database on your particular specialty area – in other words, you can find some nursing information in these, but you won't find as much as you would in a database all about nursing!
You will frequently see references to both IUP's library databases as well as the Library's e-journal collection.
Databases and e-journals are intimately connected - in fact, you might say they are practically the same thing.
Our databases are sold to us by various database vendors - companies with familiar names like EBSCO and ProQuest, who manage the databases and make sure they are up to date and contain the correct information about millions of articles. In addition, these vendors provide us with the full-text of many of our journals - meaning that when you locate an article in the database, we can view the actual article as it originally appeared when it was first published.
These full-text articles - basically, electronic versions of journals - are our e-journals. Every one of the e-journals mentioned on our website or listed in our catalog as "Electronic Journal" are in fact contained within one of the hundreds of databases the IUP Libraries provides to students and faculty. The diagram below illustrates how e-journals and databases are related.