Almost all of your work using Columbia's online library involves the use of databases, which are more or less organized collections of information designed for browsing, searching, sorting, and retrieval. While some databases are highly organized and bring together material focused on a particular field or genre, others - including CLIO - serve as portals to a number of underlying databases. Each underlying layer diminishes the functionality of these "portal" databases, as these technologies were not necessarily built to be interoperable.
Many different organizations and companies have created databases. Superficially these databases seem to differ greatly, particularly as database providers enable their proprietary AI searching technologies. Underneath the skin, however, most databases operate in a fairly similar way. If you are familiar with a set of basic techniques for structuring and focusing your search in any of them, you can quickly master almost anything you will encounter while sharpening your research question.
This guide introduces you to those basic techniques. Despite these tips and tricks, the best search is subjective and shifts with your research project; it is not formulaic but acts as a vehicle to finding library resources.
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