SearchONU vs Single Databases vs Combining Databases
Start big with your initial searches, then narrow your search strategy:
SearchONU
Most research starts at ONU with the search box on the library's homepage, which utilizes the SeachONU database. SearchONU is a great place to start out and test your topic. It searches the majority of the library's 200+ databases, as well as its ejournals, ebooks, the library catalog, and the OhioLINK catalog.
General and Subject-Specific Databases
For topics that need more specialized databases than SearchONU, or are outside the general scope of databases listed on a research guide for a course and include elements that might be part of a different discipline's subject-specific databases, make sure to check out the library's A-Z list of databases. A button titled "Databases" is right under the main SearchONU box on the library's homepage, and it will take you to this list.
Combining Databases
For topics that include elements that are part of various discipline's subject-specific databases, or to search across all of the subject-specific databases for a particular subject (example: there are multiple education databases and multiple environmental databases), databases that use the same platform allow users to create custom databases combinations to fit their specific needs. Most of Heterick's databases use the EBSCO platform, so most of them can be combined for a search that is broader than a single database but not as broad as SearchONU.
Combining Databases
Sample topics that may need research in multiple databases:
- Example 1: Support for students with eating disorders within the school system
- Subtopic 1: eating disorder treatment in teens (counselling/psychology/child development)
- Subtopic 2: within a school system (education)
- Example 2: Market analysis of Learning Management Systems in elementary schools
- Subtopic 1: Industry and market analysis of a technology (business/market/industry)
- Subtopic 2: popularity and use in elementary schools (education)
Each of these searches may benefit from combining subject databases across multiple disciplines. In example one, you'd probably have luck finding information on this topic in both education AND psychology databases. In example two, you may want to search across the business and management databases, as well as the education databases.
How to combine EBSCO databases:
- Start in any EBSCOhost database
- Click on "Choose Databases" (located above the search fields), and next to the name (in green) of the database you're already in, to add other EBSCOhost database collections to this search
- Choose additional collections from the list
- Confirm your selection by clicking "Ok"
- Search as usual
Watch a video detailing this process, from the City University of Seattle Library: Databasics: Combining database collections in EBSCOhost