| Library Databases | Internet |
| Licensed content purchased by libraries to benefit students & faculty | Accessible to anyone with Internet access |
| Content evaluated by publishers for authority and accuracy |
Content published by anyone at any time |
| Information is stable | Websites unstable and changing |
| Database collections are organized and maintained by librarians | No official body oversees organization and evaluation of sources |
| Can be searched by subject headings and specific fields like author and title | Matches based on characters and keywords entered by user |
| Allows limiting and sorting search results | Can be difficult to narrow results |
Selecting the best information resources to answer your research question depends on the depth of the information you need and the time frame you wish to explore. Ask yourself what kind of information you need:
Use the table below to help select the type of source that will best serve your purpose. Remember that you will probably want to use more than one type to locate the wide variety of information that fully covers your research topic.
