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Applied Technology Research Guide: Databases

The PCC Libraries subscribe to many online databases for students. These databases contain articles and information that are NOT always available for free on the open web, such as:

  • news and magazine articles,
  • scientific research in scholarly journals, and
  • industry information for professionals.

Below are some places to start your search. 

Off campus, you will need to log in with your MyPima username and password.

MegaSearch

MegaSearch searches many of our library databases at once to show you academic articles, news articles, eBooks, videos, and more.

Try it out:

  • Click here to open MegaSearch in Advanced Search mode
  • Try searching one concept at a time -- check your results, then add another to make your search more specific
    • Enter your main topic in the top box
    • Narrow your search by adding more concepts -- one idea per box!
    • Click the plus sign (+) to add even more boxes and concepts to your search
  • Filter your results on the left
    • Date
    • Format
  • Change, add, or subtract search terms to change your results! Make sure you re-check the filter boxes.
  • Email yourself any article along with the citation
    • Click the article title
    • Click the Email icon on the right (envelope icon)
    • Enter your email in the empty "E-mail to:" box
    • Select a Citation Format from the dropdown on the right

This video explains more about how to choose helpful search terms (keywords). Finding the right keywords is the key to getting good results!

If you need assistance searching the databases, contact a Pima librarian!

Specific Databases

You can also search by choosing specific databases. Often (but not always) you can apply the same search strategy we used with MegaSearch: narrow your search with more terms, filter your results, and email yourself articles and citations.

Below are a few databases to start with. You can also click here to see the library's full list of databases.