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What’s the Difference? Open Internet vs. Library Resources

Using the Open Internet for research has many possibilities, but locating them has many challenges. First, the vast amount of results from any search statement requires the researcher to be patient and have a high level of scrutiny to locate credible sources. In addition, the results are listed randomly, based on an algorithm of popularity, or what the researcher has used before. This popularity is often based on advertising, news events and filtering programmed into the search engine. Databases maintain a consistent format and order for their results, and select the sources preferred by professionals in each discipline.

Another factor is that publishers often limit the accessibility of their publications to professional indexing sources, such as library databases. Although many resources may have the citation available via Google or another search engine, the full-text is often available only through library database subscriptions. If an article is available openly on the Internet, it is often unedited, condensed or different than the published version.