In assignments, or on the library website, you’ve probably seen the three words “article,” “journal,” and “database.” How do they relate to each other, and how do they relate to searching for sources?
When you search in the libraries’ home page, you’re searching across several databases, including collections of books, e-books, and films, along with individual databases - for example, JSTOR or ProQuest Research Library. Each database includes sources such as articles, government documents, and many more. You can search for databases by name using the “Databases” search on the libraries’ home page.
One of the most common types of sources is a journal. This word may be used interchangeably in some places with periodical or serial, but basically a journal is a publication that comes out in issues on a regular basis - for example, four times a year. An example is Feminist Economics:
An issue of a journal contains individual articles. These are probably what you’re used to finding when you search for sources in the libraries or online, but you usually find them detached from their particular journal issue.
You can search for journals by title using the “Journals” search on the libraries’ home page.