Research Guides: Databases: Databases by type/format

Databases are also listed by the type or format of the materials or resources they index. Examples included databases for conference proceedings, multimedia, newspaper articles, reviews, or statistics. For more focused lists of databases, use the recommended databases listed on our Subject guides.

Academic search engines: Broad searching across multiple disciplines and scholarly subscription databases or free web search engines; Broad searching across a family of databases with a common interface (federated searching); Search results not restricted to a particular format
Article searching: Predominantly resources used to locate articles in published periodicals; Emphasis on scholarly research
Catalogs (about publications): Bibliographic tools that give additional information about a resource; Some include analytical tools or reviews about resources
Chemical and physical properties: Predominantly covers resources that provide factual information about matter; Includes tables, formulas, chemical compounds and structures, etc.; Information about DNA, genes, and genomic maps
Conference papers, preprints, and working papers: Predominantly resources used to locate information not (yet) published in periodicals; "Gray literature"
Countries and cultures: Predominantly full text narrative resources with some tabular/statistical information on countries and cultures
Ebook packages: Search for full-text electronic books offered through various collections; Most offer full text searching capabilities, though some limit search terms to the title, author, table of contents and notes fields
Ejournal packages: Search for full-text journals offered through a publisher's platform; Most offer full text searching capabilities, though some limit results to ejournals included in VT's subscription; Not comprehensive searching on a topic as it only includes journals listed by the publisher in that search interface; The individual ejournals will also be listed in the Journal Title Database
Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and almanacs: Encyclopedias, dictionaries,glossaries, almanacs, and other reference sources used to give researchers a starting point when in an unfamiliar area; Includes general and subject-specific sources
Freely accessible: This database has no access restrictions; it is freely accessible to anyone online.; Some databases provide free access to some content, but not all content; check the database description for details.
Funding opportunities: Student and faculty funding (grants, scholarships and research funding)
Governance: Sources, both indexes and full-text, documenting the operations of governments; Census resources are located in the Statistics and data sets category
Handbooks and manuals: Primarily for resources that are "how-to" guides; Subject specific and "library research" tutorials
Licensed for alumni use: Resource is licensed for Virginia Tech alumni access. Use Alumni Library Portal Sign In to access.
Multimedia: Predominantly resources where it only searches, or is possible to limit searches, to multimedia format types with a scholarly application; Scanned and electronically produced images of maps go here; GIS data appears in Statistics and data sets; Scanned images of music scores appear in Music Recordings and scores; Audio recordings of speeches, personal narratives and the like will be found in Narratives, diaries, and letters
Music recordings and scores: Scanned images of scores; Electronically produced scores (images, mp3, MIDI, etc); Streaming music databases
Narratives, diaries, and letters: Personal narratives, diaries, letters, speeches, memoirs, autobiographies, and other personal correspondences; Indexes and full-text; Includes audio recordings
Newspapers and magazines: Does not include articles from trade journals; Indexes and full-text; Popular magazine articles
Open Access: Contents are freely accessible online under open access guidelines
Patents and trademarks: U.S. and international patents and patent applications; Trademarks; Laws about patents and trademarks will be found in the Governance category
Poetry and short stories: Indexes and full-text collections of short format literature
Professional and trade literature: Literature for the profession; Gateways to trade journals; Indexes and full-text collections of articles from trade journals
Reports, standards, and financials: Technical standards; Official or formal record of the activities of a committee or corporate entity, a special investigation, or the proceedings of a governmental body; Publications that are a separately issued record of research results, research in progress, or other technical studies; White papers, technical reports, and periodically published in sources other than journals and magazines; Business assessments by third parties
Restricted to Virginia Tech users: This resources is restricted to current Virginia Tech students, faculty, and staff.; Off campus users should make use of Off Campus Sign In.
Reviews and critiques: Not limited to reviews of books and performances; Scholarly and non-scholarly; Reviews and critiques of books, articles, performances, artistic creations; Product reviews; Reviews of companies and industries will be in the Reports, standards, and financials category
Statistics and data sets: Compiled statistics and collections of survey instruments and raw data; GIS; Census data; Public opinion polls
Streaming video: Contents include documentaries, instructional, foreign films, classics, animated, kids films, and historical footage; No software beyond a modern browser required unless noted in the description; Coverage varies among providers (percentage or date range)
Theses and dissertations: Indexes and collections; Print and electronic; Individual theses and dissertations published at Virginia Tech will also be listed in Discovery Search
Virginia Tech related: Current and historical information; Includes information in all formats
VIVA, the Virtual Library of Virginia sponsored: Sponsored by VIVA, the Virtual Library of Virginia.