Working with Children, Young People and Families

Databases and Journal Collections

Databases are specialised online collections of information that are used by researchers in academic, government and private organisations.

Databases may contain:

• information about academic research, such as abstracts, reference lists, research data
• the full text of research projects and journal articles
• financial and business information
• statistical data
• law reports

What can I use databases for?

Databases contain more information than is available just in the Birmingham Newman library catalogue. You may need to use databases, for example, to find information about different companies if you are a Business Management student; or to find Law reports if you are a Law student.

When you start to do more in-depth academic research, for example if you have to write a dissertation in year 3 of your course, databases can be useful for finding useful sources from beyond the Birmingham Newman catalogue.

Your module leader will be able to tell you if they expect you to be using databases to help you write your assignments.

If you would like help in understanding how to use a database, or how it can help you, you can always speak to an Academic Service Librarian by booking a one-to-one tutorial, or booking on to a library workshop if there is a suitable one available.