A database is a collection of data organized for quick search and retrieval by computers. Amazon, eBay, Academic Search Premier and the UH Voyager Catalog are all examples of databases, although they appear very different. This video, from Yavapai College, demonstrates the value of library databases.
Choosing the right database for your information need is ...
Some of the library databases are collections of popular and scholarly articles:
Newspaper Source Plus (EBSCO) includes more than 860 full-text newspapers, providing more than 35 million full-text articles. In addition, the database features more than 857,000 television and radio news transcripts.
CQ Researcher is a weekly journal that has been focusing on current, controversial topics since 1923. Each single-themed, 12,000-word report is researched and written by a seasoned journalist. It is known for its in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the economy. It includes a broad overview of the issue, the historical background, and opposing viewpoints of experts on the subject. There are 44 reports each year and the full-text coverage goes back to 1991.
Some of the library databases are collections of articles on specialized subjects. For example, nursing or science.
Or you can browse through the complete list of databases at KCC.
Some of the library databases are collections of streaming videos:
Watch these two short videos for a short introduction to searching EBSCO databases.
The search tool to find books and e-books at KCC and for all of the UH campuses is called Voyager. Voyager is a library catalog. Voyager contains pointers to all of the books and DVDs in the UH system. Voyager also searches e-books. All of the e-books can be read online. All searches automatically search print books and e-books, but you can tell Voyager to search either.
Voyager by default searches everything (author, title, keywords, etc.) You can tell Voyager to search by each of these, if you want. There is a pulldown menu next to the search box where you can choose author, title or whatever. Also, you can tell Voyager to search only for items at KCC.
You can also get books from all the campuses in the UH system including from the very large libraries at UH Mānoa. In our libraries, this is call Intrasystem Loan. Look in the box below titled "How To Order Books from UH System Libraries" for instructions on how to use the Intrasystem Loan service.
As a UH student, you have access to more than 3.5 million titles in the 13 UH System Libraries. Many of these books, except for Reference, Rare, and certain Hawaii-Pacific titles can be ordered through the UH Intra-Library Loan service. Books take approximately 4-7 working days to arrive. You will be notified by an e-mail message to your @hawaii.edu account, when the item is available for check-out at our Circulation Desk.
Steps to order books through this loan service:
One of the most unique and valuable resources available at the KCC Library is the almost full archive of The Garden Island newspaper. The library provides access to The Garden Island newspaper back to 1911. The Garden Island newspaper is indexed in a different way than you might be used to, the old way. Pointers to articles, also known as indexes, are located in print format in the cabinet below:
To find articles, look through the drawers for the topic of your interest. This will lead you to the day that the article was published. This is the first step. The second step is to go find the article in the library's microfilm collection. Microfilm is a shrunk down version of the newspaper that you can view with a microfilm viewer, pictured below. Please ask a librarian for assistance.
