Sometimes databases are listed as “citations-only,” “abstracts,” or “full text.” What are the differences?
Citations-only databases give only bibliographic information such as author, title, publisher. Abstracts databases add short descriptions to those citations. But with either, you will have to go find the article on the shelf or in microfiche. Full-text means the whole article is just a click away through the database you’re using. Some databases have a little of all three, meaning some of your hits will be just citations, some citations plus abstracts, and some full-text articles.
