Every database contains only certain types and amounts of information, a characteristic called coverage, or scope. This information can typically be found near links to the database from a Web page or in the database itself. Try looking under links such as "About. . ." or "Database information" or "Sources included," etc. In printed databases, it is normally located in the front of the volume.

Consider the following elements of database coverage:

Journals, magazines, books, book chapters, dissertations, audio files, statistical tables, images, Web pages, software applications?

Sociology, music, chemistry, all, none?

The current year? 1960-1998? How often is the database updated? Hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, annually?

English only? Other languages?

Scholarly? Popular? Trade? All three? Others?

A whole article or chapter (full-text) or just a brief description (bibliographic citation and abstract)? Publisher and title?

Follow the link to the right to try answering a few questions about coverage.

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