Many of the library's subscription databases are available from off-campus, provided a user has the correct instructions and any usernames and passwords that are required. That information is available upon request at the Library's front desk or at the handout table, and also see our Web page on remote access.

Using Library Databases
If you think about it, libraries and the web have a lot in common.  Both seek to provide information--lots of it--to people in a convenient and organized fashion.  Companies have for years provided libraries with indexes to help researchers easily find information about their topics.  These companies are now doing this on the web.

Below are some of the web-based library databases that Medford Library subscribes to:
 

ACM Digital Library America: History & Life Article1st (FirstSearch) Biography Resource Center + Complete Marquis Who's Who Custom Newspapers (InfoTrac) Encyclopedia Americana Online Encyclopedia Britannica Online ERIC (FirstSearch)  Expanded Academic Index ASAP (InfoTrac) General BusinessFile ASAP (InfoTrac) General Reference Center (InfoTrac) Global Books in Print Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia Online HarpWeek Health and Wellness Resource Center (InfoTrac) Health Reference Center Academic (InfoTrac) Historical Abstracts InfoTrac Junior Edition InfoTrac Kids InfoBits InfoTrac OneFile InfoTrac Student Edition

JSTOR LegalTrac (InfoTrac) Literature Resource Center Medline (FirstSearch) MLA Bibliography (Literature Resource Center) New Book of Knowledge Online OCLC Union Lists of Periodicals (FirstSearch) Oxford English Dictionary PapersFirst (FirstSearch) Proceedings (FirstSearch) Project Muse ScienceDirect SIRS Discoverer SIRS Government Reporter (SIRS Knowledge Source) SIRS Renaissance (SIRS Knowledge Source) Web of Science What Do I Read Next? WilsonSelect Plus (FirstSearch) World Almanac (FirstSearch) WorldCat (FirstSearch)

The information in library databases such as these range from, at the least, identifying that a certain article exists in a magazine or journal to, at the most, providing the full text of a resource in its entirety.  Regarding quality, this information is as reputable as its company's name and the library subscribing to it.  You can rely on the library's judgment in having selected it for subscription in believing that its information is suitable for academic research.
 

Follow this link to Medford Library's subject-indexed list of Web-based Databases and Resources: Research Resources. Note that links designated with a USC Gamecock Block C  are available on USC Lancaster campus computers only.  Then return to this tutorial.