Online Databases

Although search engines can often retrieve millions of results, there is still a vast amount of information that is not searched by these tools. Called the invisible web, this information can be accessed through databases. Some databases are free and some are available only through library subscriptions.

So what's the difference between searching Google and searching a library database?

	Google	Databases
What?	Contains information from all kinds of sources, from all over the world. There isn't an easy way to know what Wheaton's library owns and what it doesn't.	Contain citations of journal and magazine articles, book chapters and essays, and sometimes whole books, both those owned by Wheaton's library and those available around the world. It's usually pretty easy to figure out what Wheaton has access to.
How?	Information found through Google often only exists online.	Citations found in a database usually belong to a physical object - a book, journal article, or book review can be obtained, either electronically or in print.
Who?	Material found through Google could have been written by anyone: a professor at a university, or your fourteen-year-old brother.	Material found in a database has usually been written by someone with authority to speak on the subject: a scholar in a particular field, or a sportswriter trained to analyze the game.
How much?	Information found through Google is usually available electronically, but if not, a print version may be available for a fee, or may not be available at all.	Material found in a databases is often available electronically, but if not, a print version can usually be obtained for free through Interlibrary Loan.