Memorial Middle School
             Library Media Center

What is a database?  

A database is a collection of information that's arranged for ease of use and retrieval.  For example, EBSCO and Infotrac are collections of magazine articles you can search by keyword, subject, author, or title.

What is a keyword?

A keyword is a word you can type to find information in a database.  When searching for books or magazines, keywords can be part of the title, the subject, the author's name, part of the description of the article (abstract) or book, or, in the case of magazines, part of the article text itself (full-text).

What is an abstract?

An abstract is a statement or paragraph that summarizes the important parts of the text of an article or book.

What is a periodical?

A periodical is anything that is published at periodic intervals.  Usually, it refers to magazines and journals, but periodicals also include books that are updated regularly, such as the World Book Almanac.

What is "full-text"?

When an article is refered to as "full-text", it means the entire text of the original print article is included.  In databases such as EBSCO and Infotrac, some articles have "full-text", while others only include an abstract.

What is a journal?

A journal is a periodical that presents articles on a particular subject, such as a "medical journal".  Usually the writing is done by scholars, or experts, in the subject.  Magazines, on the other hand, tend to feature articles on a variety of subjects and are written for a more general audience.