Research Assistant Guide

Nearly all of our electronic materials are accessible from off-campus. You may need to install the campus VPN client to access some databases.

When conducting multidisciplinary research, using an academic database can help you find relevant and reliable information efficiently. As a UC Davis law student, you have access to a wide range of subscription databases. Use Mabie Law Library's A-Z Databases page to browse the available databases or search for the best database for your research.

To make an informed decision about which database to choose, ask the following questions about each database:

1. What is the scope (i.e., subject matter and discipline) of the database?
2. What content types does the database include (e.g., journal articles, books, preprints, etc.)?
3. What type of access does the database provide (e.g., full-text or abstracts)?
4. Based on the answers to the first three questions, what are the strengths and limitations of the database for my research?

The library's A-Z Databases webpage is a valuable resource for finding the answers to these questions and choosing the most appropriate database for your research needs.

Full-text databases contain the entire text of a document (e.g., a journal article). These databases allow researchers to search for and access the complete content of a document, which allows for more comprehensive analysis and the ability to find specific details within the text. Full-text databases may have limited coverage compared to abstract databases. Think depth over breadth. 

Index and abstract databases do not provide the full text of documents. Instead, they provide concise summaries of a large number of documents, making it easier to quickly identify relevant literature and narrow down search results. For more detailed information that what is provided in the abstract, you will need to access the full text in the library catalog, a full-text database, or elsewhere. Think breadth over depth.

Search engines like Google, Bing, and others index an enormous amount of content from across the Internet and can be useful for initial exploratory research. Search results will be less precise than those in a legal or academic database, and many search engines rank results by popularity or paid promotion rather than relevance. Use search engines in conjunction with other research tools and be aware of their limitations to make your research effective and efficient.

Search engine tools like Google Advanced Search can help you refine your search results. By using features like exact phrase searching, word exclusion, and various filters, you can create more targeted searches to get more precise results. 

Google Scholar is a search engine that indexes scholarly literature, including academic journals, books, conference proceedings, theses, and dissertations. To get the most out of Google Scholar, use it in conjunction with subscription databases and library collections, and use the Library Links feature to connects your search results to UC Library holdings.

To set up Library Links:

1. Go to the Google Scholar homepage (scholar.google.com).
2. Click on the three horizontal lines in the top left corner to open the menu.
3. Choose "Settings."
4. Under "Library Links," search for University of California, Davis.
5. Select "University of California, Davis - Get It at UC" from the list, click the check box, and click Save.

Once Library Links is set up, you'll see additional "Get it at UC" links in your search results when a resource is available through UC Libraries. Click on these links to be directed to the library catalog page for the resource.