Subscription databases are one of the valuable library services offered to the public.  While Google, Yahoo and other powerful search engines do indeed provide amazing volumes of information, there remains vast worlds of information that are locked up by intellectual copyrights and only accessible through subscription payments.

To use a local example, The Pocahontas Times, our county newspaper, offers back issues online via a modest charge.  Many other newspapers, magazines, and journals do the same. After all, it does take publication money to compile news and information and to stay profitable.

Many publications can be found bundled together in large subscription databases such as EBSCO, a service provided to all public libraries and their cardholders by the West Virginia Library Commission.  For example, often when I am reading research articles I will find reference to a journal or magazine article that I can find in full on EBSCO. I should mention that some periodicals only have abstracts (a summary of an article); others have their articles in narrative; best, in my opinion, are those periodicals that publish in PDF format, which essentially looks identical to the printed version.

Most library databases are accessible through one’s own home internet-connected computer.  One can access through Pocahontas Library’s website (www.pocahontaslibrary.org) or through the state library commission’s portal.  Ask one of our librarians for the user name and password, which is very simple to memorize.  But we cannot give it out in a public forum such as this newspaper column.

We often get requests from students or their parents asking for a book on a topic for a school assignment. Being that we are a small library system, we do not always have books covering specialized information. However, we can encourage the students to access one of our children’s or youth databases, such as Searchasaurus or Groliers.  These even have Lexile ratings for articles that can target a child’s grade reading level.  A teacher can explain their child’s level to parents.

Pocahontas Libraries also has a specialized database.  Ancestry.com is the most powerful program for genealogical  research.  Library users may access this database at any of our library branches.  If special help is needed, I suggest making an appointment with librarian Pam Johnson, our resident expert on genealogical matters.  She can show you how to make a family tree, connect into extended family trees, even possibly find famous ancestors you otherwise would not know you had.

I probably use Google or other public search engines a dozen times or more daily.  But I also appreciate the ability to use dedicated databases for more information not otherwise available, and to know that this information is a reliable source.  I encourage our patrons to familiarize themselves with these databases and to use them often.