| Library Databases |
Web Searching |
|
Internet or web interfaces (NCLive or any other subscription database, etc) |
Internet or web interfaces (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc) |
|
Selective Content, Overwhelmingly peer/scholar reviewed |
Non-selective content. Anyone, with any agenda can publish on the web. No vetting process |
|
Includes citations, and usually an abstract, or may be citations only |
Usually only full text, does not always have citations, but may contain footnotes |
|
Field Searching by Title, Author, Keyword, Date Published, etc. |
Selective engines allow field searching, but in general, simple search boxes are used. |
Scholarly versus Non-Scholarly Articles
| Scholarly | Non-Scholarly | |
|
Purpose |
The sharing of research, experiments, studies in order to better the profession |
Entertaining, information in a broad sense |
|
Intended Audience |
Researchers, Academic Students, Faculty Members, College Audiences |
General Public Audience |
|
Publishing |
Professional associations, university publishing houses or a scholarly commercial publisher |
Commercial Publishing Companies |
|
Standards |
Contents are selectively published, and information is reviewed by scholars and experts in the field |
May be factual, but not scholarly. Magazines often publish fluff/opinion pieces, which are not peer-reviewed |
|
Language Use |
Specialized vocabulary, jargon of the field |
Non-technical, conversational |
|
Article Length |
Most often lengthy, ranging from 10-40 pages |
Usually short, 1-8 pages |
|
Appearance |
Black text, white paper |
Glossy paper, color photographs, colored, stylized text |