Alumni / Free / Open Access
We lumped together different kinds of databases because they all function similarly.
- "Free" implies that nothing has to be paid for. There may be ads on the website, but the information is available. In many cases these "databases" are just websites with a lot of information. Many of these are government websites; you can tell by the .gov domain.
- "Alumni" implies that former students, or even friends of the College, can access these databases.
- "Open Access" is a term for copywritten material that is under a specific type of license and makes the material free to use, by consent of the author. Much of this material is published research by universities, the work is paid for by grants.
Each of these are collections of freely available researched material.
How to Find the "Alumni / Free / Open Access" Material
1 - go to:
2 - In the box labeled, "All Database Types", change the dropdown to "Alumni / Free / Open Access".
Everything listed below is available for you to access and use without a login or without paying (some individual items may be behind paywalls and unavailable to you).
How to Narrow Your Your Results
From the results list from the first set of instructions, change the first box "All Subjects" to the discipline of your choice.
Types of Materials Available
There are several different types of materials found in these various databases. Some types of materials are:
- Articles - Articles are published in journals or magazines. These databases host and index many journals that are freely available or publish Open Access. Many universities in the European Union are required to publish Open Access, so much of this material is published by European journals and faculty.
- eBooks - eBooks are often older books that are no longer under copyright restrictions and are now digitized. Many libraries have digitized newer titles and some are available through agreements or Open Access deals.
- Newspapers - Some collections are from a specific publisher, some by place, some are old/historical newspapers that have digitized, and others still are today's newspapers available online.
- Reference materials - Reference materials are books that are not typically read cover to cover. These are often dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, and the like. Many are subject specific and narrowly focused, e.g. a Bible dictionary or a business encyclopedia.
- Statistical data - Statistical data and some of it is capable of being manipulated. Most of these sites are government sites.
- Theses and dissertations - These papers are often stored at the institution that granted the degree. Those collections are called an institutional repository. Theses and dissertations are wonderful places to keep up with current scholarship.
Read the description of each database to see what kind of material can be found there.
