Seriously? A Series of Tips on Setting Up a Research Library (Part 2)

“Life is too important to be taken seriously.” -- Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)

What’s Out There?
Serious researchers have experienced a number of databases in their professional careers. Many of these databases will form the core of your top ten list.  Still, it doesn’t hurt to take a look at less familiar databases to see if they might be a good fit for your organization.

One way to start is to explore the lists of databases offered by university libraries for student and faculty use.

The University of Pennsylvania (http://www.library.upenn.edu/cgi-bin/res/sr.cgi?fotlp=&community=80&resourcetype=&tab=1), Texas A&M University (http://guides.library.tamu.edu/databases), the University of Tulsa (http://www.utulsa.edu/mcfarlin/articles-databases.asp), and the University of Houston (http://info.lib.uh.edu/edbs/subject), for example, each provide lists of the databases they subscribe to.  Sifting through their lists, the top 10 databases of interest to researchers engaged in desulfurization research and related areas might look something like this …

AAPG Datapages
Academic Search Complete
Compendex
GeoRef
IEEE Xplore
Petroleum Abstracts
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
SciFinder
SCOPUS
Web of Science

Of course, the top 10 databases for your purposes may well be quite different.  The point is, by browsing through the lists of databases subscribed to by major academic institutions, you have a jumping off point for coming up with a list to match your research focus.


See more tips at: www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com