18 Move to a Database

Moving your research over to one of the library’s databases will bring a more focussed set of results.

Our earlier keyword search showed us that vaccine hesitancy might be a useful concept for finding information about what motivates some people to refuse vaccinations for their children. Doing a search with the term “vaccine hesitancy” in Academic Search Complete, the library’s largest multi-disciplinary database, yields the following results.

(Click on the thumbnail for a larger view. Use your browser back button when finished).

The majority of articles using the term “vaccine hesitancy” come from academic journals, indicating that it is a concept or term used by researchers or scholars in a variety of fields, but not so much in the popular or mainstream press. A close look at the subject terms also provides an indication of how the results are focussed: some will concentrate on public health, others on parental attitudes, and others on immunization more generally. This kind of strategy tells you how the issue is approached by different perspectives, and what might be most relevant for your own research.

See this page for a list of article databases the library subscribes to.