"Database" is a word that means a collection of something. Library Databases are collections of articles, images, video clips and other documents you can use for college-level research. The library subscribes to these resources each year, so they are only available to Valencia students, faculty and staff.
The contents of a database are different from the web sites you can find through Google and other search engines. They are specifically meant for college students and researchers to find information about topics.
Which of the 200+ database links should you click on? The long list can be quite overwhelming.
Use the Databases by Subject link to sort the database links into categories. Think about the topic you are researching. Does it fit into one or more of those categories? Example: The topic "AIDS in Africa" could fit into several categories: Health & Medicine, News & Current Events, General.
Expand the categories to see a list of databases for that subject. Click on the blue "i" icon to get details about each database.
These files represent an example of the contents of one library database, Academic Search Complete. Different databases may look and function differently, but this will give you a visual idea of what a database is.