BIOL 318: Writing for Biological Sciences

What is a Database Record? 

A database record is all the information about an article, book, book chapter, or dissertation in the database. The database record contains factual information about the article and may include a link to the full-text of the article. 

Anatomy of a Database Record

The database record can be thought of in 3 sections: 

1. Citation information: This includes the title, authors, journal information, and sometimes the article dio. 
2. Aboutness information: This is information that tells you what the article is about. This can include subject terms, author-supplied keywords, and the abstract. 
3. Author affiliation: This information tells you what institution the author(s) of the paper work at or are affiliated with. 

Why is this Important? 

Understanding the information available in the database record can help you know how to construct your search. For example, if you are looking for research about college and university campuses it can be helpful to know that the words college and university are typically in the author affiliation information in the database record. The database default is to search the entire record. If you search the words "college OR university" using the database default you will get many results that aren't research about colleges or universities.