Library Guides: CAS 100: Effective Speech (Penn State Berks): Speed Databasing

Find the database of your dreams!

Speed Databasing Slides

In this activity you will be going speed dating with four different databases. Be sure to read each database's dating profile card before diving in to your searching. Use the following questions to guide your notes:

How can this database help me in my research?
Will I use this database in the future?
What is unique about this database?
With which database did I have the most chemistry?

Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
Scorching viewpoints, background information to thoughtfully put topics in context, newspapers, magazines, podcasts, academic journals, and statistics. I’m the full package of sources.
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center provides research and background information on social issues. The database contains the essays from the Opposing Viewpoints series, supplemented by statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles. Keywords: hot topics, current events, social issues, social trends, English 15, CAS 100, background information, general interest, contemporary issues, overviews.
Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) This link opens in a new window
Background information in the form of encyclopedias. My information looks and feels like Wikipedia but I’m oh so much more authoritative.
A collection of over 2000 reference resources.
Catalog (Penn State University Libraries catalog) This link opens in a new window
Books, books, and more books! I don’t discriminate between digital and print ; ) I also like to spice it up with DVDs and select streaming videos.
This is the online catalog of materials owned by Penn State Libraries. All formats (books, journals, audiovisuals, maps, recordings, etc.) are included. Circulation status for individual items is also provided. Coverage: Presently contains about 7 million records. Updates: Continuous up-to-the-minute as new records are added.
PsycINFO (via ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Scholarly articles, books, and dissertations. My interests? Understanding what makes a person tick! I am all about studying the human mind, especially behaviors. Some of my side interests to psychology are psychiatry, medicine, education, business, pharmacology, social work, and more!
PsycINFO provides access to international literature in psychology and related disciplines. Unrivaled in its depth of psychological coverage and respected worldwide for its high quality, the database is enriched with literature from an array of disciplines related to psychology such as psychiatry, education, business, medicine, nursing, pharmacology, law, linguistics, and social work. Nearly all records contain nonevaluative summaries, and all records from 1967 to the present are indexed using the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms.

Speed Databasing Version 2

Speed Database Slides II

How can this database help me in my research?
Will I use this database in the future?
What is unique about this database?
With which database did I have the most chemistry?

Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
Plan an evening with Opposing Viewpoints if you want someone feisty and fun!
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center provides research and background information on social issues. The database contains the essays from the Opposing Viewpoints series, supplemented by statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles. Keywords: hot topics, current events, social issues, social trends, English 15, CAS 100, background information, general interest, contemporary issues, overviews.
Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) This link opens in a new window
Straightforward and easy-to-get-along-with, Gale is a fine partner for anyone!
A collection of over 2000 reference resources.
Academic Search Complete (Ebsco) This link opens in a new window
Who you should date if you want someone intellectual and refined.
Academic Search Complete is a comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,300 full-text periodicals, including 4,400 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 9,300 journals and a total of 10,900 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1865, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format.
Access World News (NewsBank) This link opens in a new window
NewsBank database for news coverage from across the globe.
The electronic editions of record for local, regional, and national U.S. newspapers as well as full-text content of key international sources -- all in one easy-to-search database with a world map. Each provides unique coverage of local and regional news, including companies, politics, sports, industries, cultural activities, and people in the community, as well as a distinctive focus offering a variety of viewpoints on local and world issues. Also includes limited streaming video.