The document compares the features of several frequently used databases at Creekview High School, including options for sharing, exporting citations and bibliographic data, and bookmarking articles. Gale Opposing Viewpoints and Discovering Collection provide limited options, while Gale Virtual Reference Library, Gale Global Issues in Context, and SIRS Issues Researcher are outdated. EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete and EBSCOhost Student Research Center differ in their citation generation processes and available styles. Overall, the databases vary widely in their sharing, citation, and export capabilities and user-friendliness.

1. Creekview High School Most Frequently Used Databases: A Comparison of Database Platform Features Compiled by Buffy J. HamiltonAugust 24, 2011

2. Gale Opposing Viewpoints

3. Gale Opposing Viewpoints 325 options under “Share” using AddThis

4. Discovering Collection No options to export the bibliographic data No options to get the citation in MLA, APA, or other format—”source citation” at bottom is not in a standard citation format.

5. Gale Virtual Reference Library

6. Gale Virtual Reference Library Note there are more choices in GVRL than in Opposing Viewpoints; we also have differences in language and appearance

7. Gale Virtual Reference Library Note there are no “sharing” tools via Add This for students to bookmark or post the article to another tool like Evernote or Tumblr

8. Gale Global Issues in Context

9. Gale Global Issues in Context Note how this “toolbox” looks different from the other Gale databases

10. Gale Global Issues in Context Note there are only 14 choices, and many of them are outdated or no longer available. None of the more popular services, like Evernote or Tumblr, are offered.

11. EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete

12. EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete Integrated menu on far right works within existing window (no pop-up windows)and is easy to use and navigate

13. EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete Hundreds of bookmarking/sharing options are available via AddThis

14. EBSCOhost Student Research Center

15. EBSCOhost Student Research Center No options for exporting bibliographic data are available. The permalink to the article is near the bottom of the screen No bookmarking/sharing options are offered To generate a citation, you must choose “save” or “print”, which then involves the student moving through multiple screens to get the citation—not very student friendly. Citation styles offered—two version of Chicago, Harvard, AMA, Vancouver—not typical of the K12 environment.

16. SIRS Issues Researcher

17. SIRS Issues Researcher No export feature is offered to export bibliographic data Only the MLA style citation is available “AddThis” option with hundreds of choices is offered for sharing/bookmarking the article No persistent URL is readily available