KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Attention college students! There may be a more accurate, credible, and informative way to research information online than through the use of standard search engines like Google and Yahoo.
"School databases are reliable, very well researched, and unbiased," said Peggy L. Gunnel, a reference librarian at Valencia Community College in Orlando, Fla. "It is a very risky situation when using sites like Google and Wikipedia because much of the content you are linked to is self-edited, biased, and not credible. With databases you can search dependable sources that are proven to be legit and peer-reviewed."
Close to a dozen people attended Gunnel's presentation Wednesday afternoon at the Osceola Campus of Valencia Community College to learn about the functioning of online databases.
Databases are school subscribed links only accessible electronically through a validated school identification card.
Valencia works in partnership with the other 27 community colleges in Florida to pay for annual subscription fees.
Gunnel reveals, "There are as many as 100 databases in the school's online library system."
One of the unique features in using databases according to Gunnel is that each research database has its given branch. "If I wanted to research a historical figure I would search under the Biography Resource Center database which contains biographies and images of many important people throughout history."
Other electronic databases include scholarly business journals, visual arts, health and nursing journals, electronic books, articles on controversial issues, and full-text access to newspapers around the nation.
So are students more inclined now to conduct their research through databases or will they still favor search engines like Google? The results are mixed.
"Databases are all well and good but what happens when I leave Valencia," said Valencia student Jeffrey Anacius. "I will no longer have any access to these databases so I will be left researching the way I used to."
"I like the fact that each database has their own department which allows me to search for what I am specifically looking for," said Nina Ross. "It is much easier than having to Google something and look for the article that seems most credible."
