EBSCO is the name of a database vendor that provides a large number of services. The databases of importance for our region from this vendor are:
Using the EBSCO search interface it is possible to select a few of these sources, Womens' Studies International and Index Islamicus for example and search for resources in various disciplines. These searches can be a little tricky but usually yield not only interesting sources but also extensive information on searching techniques. Related subject headings are usually displayed for further refinement of the search.
| Name | Scope | Dates | Languages | Notes |
| ArticleFirst | All subject areas | 1990- | Some foreign language material | There is no specific search for these materials in Article Firs |
| Bibliography of the History of Art | Art history and all related areas | Foreign languages well represented | This is a very interesting resource for the region and has a variety of sources on art exhibitions at various times in the past. | |
| Avery Index | Architecture and urban planning | 1741- | All | The indexing on some of the journals for the Slavic region goes back many years and makes this a very valuable resource for those studying urban planning, culture, architecture and related subjects. |
| Ebooks | All subject areas | 2008- | All | Records for ebooks are contributed here by libraries that contribute their holdings information to WorldCat. |
| Francis | Multi-lingual, multi-disciplinary articles | 1984- | All | 4300 journals and over 2 million records. No specific language searches available |
| PeriodicalAbstracts | Multi-disciplinary | 1987- | English | Full text of many resources |
| WilsonSelectPlus | Multi-disciplinary | 1994- | English | Full text of many resources |
| WorldCat | Multi-disciplinary |
The list of interdisciplinary databases is growing constantly. Indeed, database vendors seem to be generally moving to the all-encompassing resource. When using these services, scholars often tend to work with one particular database and this is often the best strategy. However, if you are working with a multi-disciplinary topic it can be very helpful to search several databases at once. Often this will produce items that are related to your topic in an unusual way. This is often the case with the medical databases where one can find articles on Tolstoy and other writers not in terms of literary criticism but in terms of their social impact.
Another advantage of this type of search in these megadatabase structures is that you will often be provided with numerous subject headings that may not have occurred to you. Web of Science, CSA and others will often return a list of subject terms to further "refine" your search. These have the added benefit of helping you direct future searches using those terms you found especially important for your topic.
The one thing that can be a bit tricky with this type of search is that different databases allow for different types of searches. So for example, if you choose two different databases in EBSCO, Index Islamicus and Academic Search Premier in this case, you will find that there may be special limiters listed for each database.
Still such a search will give you a good idea what you can and expect to find on a multidisciplinary topic and which databases will provide the richest results.
