Monday, August 3, 2009

Your Host, Ebsco

This week we're going to take a stroll through one of the most comprehensive online sources your public library is likely to offer. We bring you EbscoHost. Tada! Ebscohost provides articles and information from various databases. When libraries talk about databases they tend to mean collections of data they have purchased that can be searched by subject, keyword, etc.. I say this because you'll be seeing the word 'database' often this week. The differences between these databases and what a search engine pulls up on the Internet are authority, accuracy and reliability. You can't wait to try it! Here's how to get to EbscoHost from home:

1. Go to our homepage at http://www.dmpl.org/
2. Click on Online Resources.
3. Click on Ebscohost.
4. Type in your Des Moines Public Library card number and PIN.

You're in! Whee! Pick a database, type in your search terms and go to town. A tip: on the left of the search screen you will find a box next to the words Full Text. Check that box. It ensures your search results will only include complete articles. And that's the way we like it.

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