Demetree Learning Commons - Research Resources

- Obtain BK's username and password from the Learning Commons or from your teachers.
- Click here to use Country Reports. CountryReports provides over 35,000 pages of online content on the cultures and countries of the world. With unique content from around the world, our members rely on us to keep our database concise and current.
- This database is best for Social Studies, Geography, and History classes. Obtain our school's username and password from Learning Commons or from your teacher.

Open Access Databases

Below are open access options for research and libraries; you may be prompted to create personal accounts, however, no Bishop Kenny issued passwords are required for these options.

Florida Electronic Library: Ideal for research database access.

Jacksonville Public Library eResearch: Ideal for diverse selection of research options.

PLOS ONE: Great for academic journals.

ERIC: Great for academic journals.

Google Scholar: Great for article abstracts.

Hoopla: Ideal for eBooks, Audio books and music.

Common Lit : Ideal for free passages relevant to classroom topics.

Open Library: Great for “what to read next” or a quick plot synopsis.

World Library: Great for a wide selection of material and content.

Gutenberg: Great for free access to The Classics and material in other languages.

Newseum: Great for headline news and current events.

Academic Research - WHY?

It is important to understand the differences between the job of a search engine and the job of database. Students often conduct informal online research using Google or other popular search engines; search engines are easy to use and always produce results. However search engines are not meant to provide formal research results; not because they are weak or insufficient, it's just not their job. Academic research is best performed using academic databases.

What is a search engine? Chances are excellent you have used a search engine - Google, Yahoo, Bing - to find answers to questions. Chances are also excellent you found answers you were searching for. What time is low tide? What is a Kookaburra? Where is the nearest gas station? All good questions and all in need of a bit of "research" to find the answer. This type of Q&A, or information retrieval, are what SE's are good at; they "crawl" (search) the Internet for data then "index" (file) the information according to relevance and popularity. Users are provided with the most popular results. If you have ever asked Siri or Google to find an answer, she is searching the Internet and bringing back popular results; her job is to bring the user the top "answers" to their question.

What is an academic database? Simply put, a database is storage. An Excel spreadsheet can be considered a database. When we talk about academic databases we mean a storage facility of journals, books, and documents that are academic in nature. Another way to understand a database is to imagine a traditional library. You, the end user, browse the library shelves, read material, and decide what information is relevant and answers your question. YOU are the search engine and the library books are the database. Let's combine the example: research performed online in an academic database (the library) allows you (the user) to control the search (which shelves) and find results (reserach material). .

Why does it matter where I search? It matters for many reasons, but perhaps to the student with the assignment, the most important reasons are time and accuracy. If your teacher has assigned the use of an academic database don't waste time cutting corners and searching elsewhere; unlike a search engine, an academic database provides reliable, accurate and subject specific information that is not indexed by popularity. Keep your Librarian in mind; he or she can help you navigate the databases and make suggestions on which ones to use and where to look!