Undergraduate Guide to Japanese Studies

OneSearch can search across many databases at once, but sometimes it is more useful to search only in one specific database. Searching in individual databases can reveal books, articles, and other sources that may not pop up in OneSearch. Individual databases will also have unique features, like limiting your search results to resources about a specific country, that OneSearch simply can't do.

Key Ideas to Remember about Using Databases

• All the concepts about keywords you learned in Search apply here as well.
• Try to use a databases "Advanced Search" feature
• Databases are made by companies, therefore:
  • Two different databases could have Identical interfaces but totally different content
  • Two different databases can also have very different interfaces but you'll see very similar contact in either database
• Use the right database for your topic, if you are researching Japanese Art, an art specific database well be especially helpful
• It takes time to become familiar with individual databases

These are large interdisciplinary databases with scholarship done primarily in English. You may, for example, be searching for articles on Japanese literature or a specific author, but could still see articles on the Japanese economy in your search results. Using the advanced search features of these databases will greatly improve your results.