Database Tutorials

Over 370 databases were visited and examined to determine which had
tutorials, and which didn’t, and which databases offered help screens. It was
found that, outside of the largest databases, very few had tutorials. Of
these, only 6 of the 12 large aggregators offered tutorials. For those which
did, notes were made indicating how it was created. Notes were also made
when the database had FAQs or help pages, with some comments on the
quality of the help.

The Instruction Unit will need to decide for which databases time and effort
should be expended to create tutorials. Criteria to use in deciding this and in
deciding what order to create them should include:

• Amount of use the database gets

• Adequacy of the available help

I would recommend that tutorials for FirstSearch, ProQuest, Thomson Gale /

Infotrac, ISI Web of Knowledge, and SpringerLink be developed. Those for
FirtsSearch and ProQuest can be fairly general, since their interfaces are
pretty similar across the database offerings. Thomson Gale / Infotrac may
need more specific treatments. After that, it should be on a frequency of use
basis, depending on the quality of the available help pages.

The list follows. It shows the larger databases, and which have tutorials.
This list is followed by an alphabetical list of the databases. For the first 7
letters of the alphabet, if the database was an offering of one of the larger
aggregators, the database was left off the list. From H on a reference was
made to the aggregator. This will be remedied as time permits.

Submitted by Frances A. May

May 31, 2008

 Databases with Tutorials
May 31, 2008
Submitted by Frances A. May
Large Aggregators:
CSA – hastutorials. Uses Flash. Would help to have a printable handout. Doesn’t
let you get out except by closing window. Has context sensitive help.

Ebsco – has tutorials and help pages

ERL WebSPIRS / OVID - tutorials not found. Has help – not wonderful.

FirstSearch, ECO, WorldCat – tutorials not found. Has help screens. Actually,
I did find tutorials but they were for librarians or administrators, for resource
sharing.

ISI Web of Knowledge - tutorials not found. Has a Flash intro, help screens,
FAQ

JSTOR – has tutorials, help screens. Tutorials so-so; they restart when reach end.

NewsBank– has tutorials and help. Powerpoint – not great; sometimes too fast,
sometimes too slow. User has no control.

ProQuest – tutorials not found. Has help screens. Has Quick Start guides,
reference guides, brochures that can be printed.

SpringerLink – tutorials not found. Help only for registration for product. Has
FAQ.

Thomson Gale / Infotrac - tutorials not found. Help pages.

Web of Science– has tutorials. Not fancy; some interaction in that you have to
click an arrow to advance to next screen. Escape is possible.

WilsonWeb– has tutorials but you have to dig to find them. Help, too. (tutorials are
under Help - Training.)

Individual, smaller databases

ABC-CLIO – America: History and Life - tutorials not found. Has a user’s guide &
CLIO notes – not very helpful.
Access Science – tutorials not found. Has a site demo.

ACM Digital Library - tutorials not found. FAQs

Ad Access – tutorials not found. FAQs and search tips

Africabib.org - tutorials not found.

American Accounting Association Journals – has tutorial.

American Chemical Society Journals - tutorials not found. Help doesn’t.

American Heritage Dictionary - tutorials not found.

American Institute of Physics - tutorials not found.

Amer. Mathematical Soc. Journals - tutorials not found.

Amer. Physical Soc. Journals - tutorials not found. Some help available.

Amer. Song - tutorials not found.

Analytical Abstracts - tutorials not found.

Annual Reviews - tutorials not found. Help not very.

Anthrosource - tutorials not found. Help o.k.

ArchivesUSA - tutorials not found. Help not very.

Artstor - tutorials not found. Help is very clunky but pretty good when you find it.
You have to click on several links for Howdo I search for images that seem to do
absolutely nothing, but finally you will find a good description. If you haven’t quit
looking in frustration.

American Society of Civil Engineers Research Library - tutorials not found. Do

have an extensive help section.

Amer Soc of Mechanical Engineers Journals - tutorials not found. Help section.

Associations Unlimited – Gale - tutorials not found. Help section.

ASTM Standards - tutorials not found. Gives numbers for tech support.

Berkeley Electronic Press - tutorials not found. Help not found.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index - tutorials not found. Help section.

BioMed Central – open source - tutorials not found. Has a knowledge base that is
searchable. Really needs help.
BIOSIS Previews - tutorials not found. Help section.

Books In Print - tutorials not found. Help section / topic index.

Britannica Online – has tutorial

Budget of the U.S. Government - tutorials not found. No help. (!)

Business and Company Resource Center – Gale - tutorials not found. Help
section.

Cabell’s – page not found

Cambridge Journals - tutorials not found. Help screens and FAQ.

Campus Research – Westlaw - tutorials not found. Help screens hard to find.

Catalysts & Catalysed Reactions - tutorials not found. No help screens, etc.

Cheresources.com - tutorials not found. No help screens. No search engine

found.

Children’s Literature Comprehensive Database – has tutorials, help topics.

Classical Music Library - tutorials not found. Has help section, may not be
extensive.

Classification Web – has tutorial.

College Source - tutorials not found. Has some instructions on advanced

search page. **

ComAbstracts - tutorials not found. Has a help screen; not that great.

ComIndex - tutorials not found. No help. Open access journals.

Company of Biologists – open access journals. tutorials not found. No help

screens.

Computing Reviews online - tutorials not found. Has tip sheets, tips, and help
screen.

Copernicus Publications - tutorials not found. No help pages. Open access

journals

County Business Patterns - tutorials not found. No help pages. FAQ.

CQ Press - tutorials not found. No help pages.

Crime in the U.S. - tutorials not found. No help pages. FAQ.

DGRWeb - tutorials not found. Rudimentary FAQ.

Dictionary of Literary Biography (GaleGroup) - tutorials not found. Generic

instruction page for all GaleGroup Literary Databases.

Dictionary of Old English Corpus - tutorials not found. Help pages

Diotima - tutorials not found. No help pages.

Directory of Open Access Journals - tutorials not found. Has FAQ.

Directory of Published Proceedings - tutorials not found. Has FAQ, and a

help desk form.

DRAM - tutorials not found. Help page.

Duke University Press Journals - tutorials not found. Help pages.

eSkeletonsProject - tutorials not found. Help pages and FAQ, mostly

relating to bones and muscles, etc. Help related to technical stuff, not how to use
it.

Early English Books Online - tutorials not found. Help pages

Educational Media Reviews Online - tutorials not found. No help.

eHRAF– Has tutorial and good help pages.

EIA Library ( EnergyInformation Administration) - tutorials not found. No help

pages. Has a FAQ.

Electrochemical Society Journals - tutorials not found. No help pages but a

tip on the search page.

eLibrary- tutorials not found. Extensive help topics, FAQs.

Emerald - tutorials not found. Provide Brief Guides page.

Encyclopedia of Computational Chemistry - tutorials not found. Help

pages.

Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Technology- Page not found error –

reported it.

Energy Citations Database - tutorials not found. Has FAQs and help page.

Engineering Village - tutorials not found. Offers help in PDF, Flash, Word,
and sometimes PPT.
English Short Title Catalogue - Uses Citrix.

Ethnic NewsWatch - ProQuest

European Geosciences Union - tutorials not found. No help. Lot of Open

Access Journals.

FindArticles - tutorials not found. FAQs.

Forms, Publications and other ethics documents - tutorials not found. FAQs.

FRASER - tutorials not found. FAQs.

Gale Virtual Reference Library - See Thomson-Gale / InfoTrac

Gartner - tutorials not found. Help pages.

Gateway to Educational Materials - tutorials not found. Help pages.

Godey’s Lady’s Book - tutorials not found. Help pages.

GrantSelect - tutorials not found. Limited help.

Grove Art Online - tutorials not found. Dense help page.

Grove Music Online - tutorials not found. Help topics.

Guilford Publications - tutorials not found. FAQs.

Handbook of Texas - tutorials not found. Help page. FAQ.

Haworth Press Electronic Journals - tutorials not found. FAQ.

Health and psychosocial Instruments - OVID. tutorials not found. Help pages.

Health and Wellness Resource Center (Gale) - Has tutorial but doesn’t call it that
(Guided Tour.) Help pages.

Health Reference Center Academic (Gale) - tutorials not found. Help pages.

Health Source – Consumer Edition – See Ebsco

Health Source – Nursing / Academic Edition – see Ebsco

Heritage Quest Online - tutorials not found. Help pages.

Hindawi Publishing Corporation (Open Access Journals)- tutorials not found.

No help.

Historical Abstracts (ABC-CLIO)- tutorials not found. Has a user’s guide & CLIO
notes – not very helpful.
History Cooperative - tutorials not found. Has searching tips – rudimentary.

History of Costume - tutorials not found. Help link takes user to UNT academic
computing help desk. No help for actual searching or database use.

Hoover’s Online - tutorials not found. Help is FAQs.

Hospitality and Tourism Index – See Ebsco

Household Products Database - tutorials not found. FAQ, help page.

Human Resources Abstracts – See FirstSearch

Humanities Abstracts – See Ebsco

Idea Group Publications - tutorials not found. Has FAQ, help pages. 8
information science resources.

IEL (IEEE Xplore) - tutorials not found. FAQs, PDF User Guide

ILI Standards InfoBase - tutorials not found. “User Manual” available.

In the First Person - tutorials not found. “Guided Tour” that sounds like a
tutorial but really isn’t.

Index to Film Periodicals – tutorials not found. See ERL WebSPIRS (Ovid)

Index to TV Periodicals - tutorials not found. See ERLWebSPIRS (Ovid)

Indian Academy of Science Journals - tutorials not found. No help or FAQs

INFORMS Pub Online - tutorials not found. Link to help available from search
screen

InfoTrac Custom Newspapers - tutorials not found. Minimal help, hard to find
(click on Catalog, first item gives some help.)

Ingenta - tutorials not found. FAQs only.

INSPEC Engineering Village II - tutorials not found. Offers help in PDF, Flash,
Word.

International Index to Music Periodicals - tutorials not found. See ProQuest

International Pllant Name Index - tutorials not found. FAQs.

International Repertoire of the literature of Art - See CSA.

Internet and Personal Computing Abstracts – See Ebsco

Intute - tutorials not found. Have User Support.
IoP electronic journals (Institute of Physics) - tutorials not found. Help
somewhat confusing; help index and troubleshooting and FAQs and “User Options.”

J-Stage – Japan Science and Technology Information Aggregator, Electronic -

tutorials not found. Have a how-to that is not indexed, and doesn’t help with
searching.

Journal Citation Reports – tutorials not found. Has a 2-item help screen.

JSTOR – some tutorials, help pages.

Keesing’s World News Archive - tutorials not found. Good help pages.

Kids Search Interface – See Ebsco.

Kinesiology Publications Search Page – going under new management; check later.

Kraus Curriculum Development Library - tutorials not found. …but they offer
a PowerPoint presentation on the product; more or less a commercial. FAQs.

LEA Online – Transitioning to a new provider. E-mailed Nicole.

Leadership Library – Has tutorial; moves slowly.

Lecture Notes in Computer Science – see Springerlink.

Lecture notes in Mathematics – see Springerlink.

Lecture Notes in Physics – see Springerlink.

Legal Collection – see Ebsco.

Lexis Nexis Academic – has tutorials

Lexis Nexis Congressional – tutorials not found. Has help pages. Pretty
comprehensive.

Lexis Nexis Government Periodicals Index – tutorials not found. Has help pages
and tips.

Lexis Nexis State Capital – tutorials not found. Has help pages and FAQs. Help
mostly in understanding governmental processes.

Lexis Nexis Statistical – tutorials not found. has help pages, FAQs.

Library and Information Science Abstracts – see CSA.

Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts Full Text – see Ebsco. (No
annotation)

Library Literature and Info Science Full Text – See WilsonWeb.

Library of Texas – Has searching tips, very short help page. Tutorial link in site’s
Library Information page goes to a 404.

Library Press Display – see ProQuest.

Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts – see CSA.

Literature Online – tutorials not found. Help pages.

Literature Resource Center (Gale) – tutorials not found. Search engine tips and
help pages.

Macmillan Cabinet Papers – Unable to locate address.

MarciveWeb DOCS – tutorials not found. Has help screens, FAQs. Intended for
catalogers.

MAS Ultra – see Ebsco.

MasterFILE Premier – see Ebsco.

Materials Research Society Publications – tutorials not found. Has FAQs.

Mathematical Sciences Publishers – tutorials not found.No help, no FAQ. No

annotation. Page or so of links to math journals, which do not seem to be
searchable.

MathSciNet – tutorials not found. Help pages, FAQs.

MatWeb – Material Property Data – tutorials not found. Not a bibliographic

database. Has FAQs.

Medica Latina – see Ebsco

MedKnow publications – tutorials not found. No help, no FAQs. Collection of open

access Asian, Indian, African medical journals.

Medline - PubMed – Has tutorials, help, and FAQs.

Medline Plus – has tutorials, FAQs.

Medline via EbscoHost – see Ebsco.

Mental Measurements Yearbook – see Ebsco.

Methods in Organic Synthesis Database – tutorials not found. Help only found on
RSC Publishing site.

Middle English Compendium – tutorials not found. Has help topics.

Middle Search Plus – see Ebsco

Military and Government Collection – See Ebsco

Mintel Reports – tutorials not found. Have to set up profile before you can use
anything. They do have a link to Help.

MLA Directory of Publications – see Ebsco.

MLA International Bibliography – see Ebsco

Music Index – tutorials not found. Offer instructions on the search interface, plus
help pages.

National Academies Press – tutorials not found. Have help pages, selling books
either electronically or hard copy.

National Center for Biotechnology Information – Has tutorials, help.

National Center for Health Statistics Publications – tutorials not found. Has help
pages but hard to find – under Electronic Products – for assistance. Not solely a
bibliographic database.

National Climatic Data Center Online Document Library – tutorials not found.Has
help pages. Consists of maps and other data such as storm data, precipitation, etc.

National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts - tutorials not found. has
help pages, including searching help, but somewhat buried.

National Environmental Publications Information System – tutorials not

found.Has help pages, accessible thru site map.

National Image Library (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) – tutorials not found. Has
help pages.

Natural and Alternative Treatments – tutorials not found,in spite of being an

Ebsco database. Has a help page.

Natural Product Updates - tutorials not found. Has help pages.

Nature Publishing Group Online Journals - tutorials not found. Pretty useless
help page that is hard to find. Has listing of questions asked with their answers.
Not really a FAQ.
Naxos Music Library - tutorials not found. Has User Guide, User Instructions,
and FAQs.

NBER Working Papers - tutorials not found. Help pages located under About
link.

NEPIS – Environmental Protection Agency Documents - tutorials not found. Has

assistance.
NetAdvantage – Standard and Poors - tutorials not found. Has help pages,
guided tour.

netLibrary - tutorials not found. Help pages, printable demos and quickstart
guides.

Newspaper Source – see Ebsco

Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalog - needed change to proxy server; unable to
view.

NIST Data Gateway - National Institute of Standards and Technology – a gateway to

a number of free and for-price databases. Help pages for the gateway itself; did not
check on the individual links. tutorials not found.

NLM Gateway - tutorials not found. Help screens, FAQs.

North American Industry Classification System – NAICS - tutorials not found. Help
pages, Question and Answer Center, FAQs. Help pages available from FAQ page.
Difficult to find.

North American Womens Letters and Diaries - tutorials not found. Guided tour,
long help page.

OAIster – Union catalog of digital resources. tutorials not found. Help, search
tips.

Occupational Information Network – O*Net – help pages, points to a website which

has tutorials (O*Net Academy)

Occupational Outlook Handbook – tutorials not found. FAQs.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - tutorials not found. Help pages –

fairly comprehensive.

Oxford English Dictionary Online - Help pages – lots! Has something they call
tutorials which are static pages with screen shots and graphics.

Oxford Reference Online - tutorials not found. help pages.

Oxford University Press Journals - tutorials not found. FAQs

PAIS Archive via FirstSearch – see FirstSearch

PAIS International via FirstSearch – see FirstSearch

PapersFirst via FirstSearch – see FirstSearch

PapersInvited – see CSA

Parliamentary Debates. House of Commons and House of Lords - tutorials not

found. Some help, including tips, etc., for Advanced Search

Patrologia Latina Database - tutorials not found. Has help pages.

Philosopher’s Index – see CSA

PILOTS (Published International Literature on Traumatic Stress) - search handled

through CSA interface

Pion Limited Journals - tutorials not found.Collection of journals. Has tips for
searching on search page. No help pages.

Plunkett’s Research Online - Has an Online Tour and Quick Start Guide. Link to a
tutorial near end of guide.

Predicasts PROMT - See Infotrac / Thomson Gale Databases

Preserving and Digitizing Plant Images: Linking Plant Images and Databases for
Public Access - tutorials not found. Offers a software system for users to
catalog their plant collection. No help pages found. Low priority for creating a
tutorial!

Primary Search – see Ebsco

ProceedingsFirst via FirstSearch

Professional Development Collection – see Ebsco

Project Euclid Prime Collection - tutorials not found. has a help page. Low
priority

Project Muse - tutorials not found. Has help pages.

PROLA – Physical review Online Archive - tutorials not found. Has help pages.

Proquest Online – see ProQuest

PsycARTICLES – see Ebsco

PsycCritiques – see Ebsco

Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection – see Ebsco

PsycInfo – see Ebsco

PubChem - tutorials not found. One long help page.

Public STINET - tutorials not found. Has help pages.

PubMed Central - tutorials not found. Has help pages, hard to find. Have to go to
Advanced Search to access them.

Readers guide Abstracts – see Ebsco

Readers Guide Retrospective - see WilsonWeb

Reference Universe - tutorials not found. has short help page

Reference USA - tutorials not found. has help pages.

RefWorks - has tutorials and help pages.

Regional Business News - see Ebsco

Regional Economic Accounts - tutorials not found. Has FAQs – 19 pages of

them! Searchable, though.

Religion and Philosophy Collection - see Ebsco

Repertoire d’Art et d’Archeologie - see CSA.

Research Insight – no link

Research library – see ProQuest

RIA Checkpoint tax library - tutorials not found. has help pages

RILM - see FirstSearch

RIPM - see FirstSearch

Royal Society of Chemistry Journals - tutorials not found. Help not very helpful.

Safari Tech Books online – tutorials not found. FAQ.

Sage Family Studies abstracts – see FirstSearch

Sage Journals online - tutorials not found. Extensive help pages.

Sage Public Administration Abstracts - see FirstSearch

Sage Race Relations Abstracts - Available from FirstSearch. Why does it take you
to the available issues instead of a search screen?

Sage Urban Studies Abstracts – see FirstSearch

Samuel May Antislavery collection - required proxy updating – sent help ticket

Science and Technology collection – see Ebsco

Science Citation Index – CD product

Science Online (AAAS) - Has help pages. Could not look at them because proxy
server kept timing out.

Science Direct – has tutorials and help pages.

SciFinder Scholar – CD product requiring Citrix.

Scirus – tutorials not found. has help pages.

Scribner Writers Series - tutorials not found. Gale product. Has help pages.

Searchasaurus - Ebsco children’s database

Serials Directory - see Ebsco

SIAM Journal Online - Has help pages. Has an Acrobat tutorial, which is more of a
help page. Other than that, tutorials not found.

Silverplatter Webspirs - see ERL / Webspirs / Ovid

SIRS Discoverer - CD product requiring Citrix

SIRS Government Reporter - CD product requiring Citrix

SIRS Renaissance - see above

SIRS Researcher – see above

SME Source (Society of Manufacturing Engineers) - has help screens, search tips,
tutorial. Ebrary.

Social Science Abstracts – see Ebsco

Social Science Citation Index - CD product requiring Citrix.

Social Sciences Abstracts – see Ebsco

Social Security Publications - tutorials not found. FAQs.

Social Services Abstracts - Could not view – problems loading.

Social Work Abstracts - see ERL / WebSPIRS / Ovid

Sociological Abstracts - Could not view – problems loading

Solid State and Superconductor Abstracts - see CSA

Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics - tutorials not found. has help pages.

SPIE digital library - tutorials not found. has help pages.

SportDiscus - see Ebsco

SpringerLink - see SpringerLink

State Personal Income - tutorials not found. has FAQs.

Statistical Abstract of the United States - tutorials not found. FAQs

StatUSA / Internet (National Trade Data Bank) - tutorials not found. FAQs, Will
come train you! (Not free.)

Student Research Center - see Ebsco

Survey of Current Business - tutorials not found.Has help topics. Hard to find.

Synergy (Blackwell) - tutorials not found.has help pages.

Tax forms and Publications - tutorials not found. Help, FAQs.

Taylor & Francis Journals via Informaworld - Has PPT tutorial which exhibits
insufficient use of arrows. Also help pages.

TeachingBooks.net - has a movie, FAQs, help tips.

techXtra – tutorials not found. rudimentary help pages

Texas Digital Sanborn Maps - tutorials not found. FAQs, help pages

Texas Newspaper Collection via NewsBank - has PPT tutorial, help pages

Texas Reference Center - see Ebsco

Thomson Gale Databases - see Thomson Gale

Thomson One Banker - tutorials not found. has help pages. Very blank and
intimidating first page.

Title Source 3 - tutorials not found. has help screens

TOPICsearch - see Ebsco

Tox Town - tutorials not found. help pages. Low priority.

Toxics Release Inventory - tutorials not found. FAQ.

TOXNET - tutorials not found. Help pages.

TREC Proceedings - tutorials not found. help pages

Twayne’s Authors Series (Gale Database) - tutorials not found. help pages

Twentieth Century American Poetry - tutorials not found. help pages

Twentieth Century British Poetry - see above.

Ullman’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry - tutorials not found. has help

pages.

Ulrichsweb.com - tutorials not found. Help pages that don’t

University of California eScholarship repository - tutorials not found. help

screens

Value Line Research Center - has tutorials and help pages.

Vanderbilt University Libraries Television News Archive - tutorials not found.

searching tips – rudimentary.

Vernon’s Texas Codes Annotated - CD product using Citrix

ViVa Women’s History Database - tutorials not found. no help.

Vocational and Career Collection - see Ebsco

W. B. Yeats Collection Online - tutorials not found. has help pages

WDI Online (World Development Indicators) - tutorials not found. Help pages –
not very

Web of Science - tutorials not found. help pages – not very.

Wiley InterScience - PowerPoint demo with voiceover (British accent)

Women and Society - tutorials not found. no help

Women’s Studies E-books via Greenwood - tutorials not found. help pages

World Almanac via FirstSearch - see FirstSearch

World Factbook - tutorials not found. FAQs

World History Collection - see Ebsco

World News Connection - tutorials not found. has search tips

World Scientific Journals - tutorials not found. Has help pages.

World-Newspapers.com - tutorials not found. no help found

WorldCat via FirstSearch - see FirstSearch

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts - see CSA

WRDS - Wharton Research Data Service - tutorials not found. have demos
which are basically help pages.

Zentralblatt MATH - tutorials not found. has help pages – not very

ZIP Business Patterns - tutorials not found. no help.