28
The library database that made me ditch Wikipedia for good
I was working on a paper about the history of vending machines last month, weird topic I know, and I kept hitting dead ends on Google. So I went down to the local library and the librarian there showed me how to use something called the JSTOR database. I always thought those academic databases were just for college kids writing boring essays, but I was wrong. She pulled up this 1982 article from a trade journal that had the exact number of how many sandwich vending machines were in U.S. schools back in 1970, like 14,000 or something. I had never seen information that specific anywhere on the open web. It just clicked for me that libraries have all these paid sources that regular search engines can't touch. Now I go to the reference desk every time I need a fact for something, it's way faster than filtering through blogs. Has anyone else had a moment where a database changed how you search for stuff?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
evan_anderson13d ago
Librarians are underrated like that, glad you found a good one.
6