Nursing Research Guide: Select Databases Feature - EbscoHost

This page illustrates using the Select Database page in an EbscoHost database to search across multiple databases at once. 

A smart approach for the Nursing or Health Studies programs can be to search across all of the EbscoHost databases at the same time.

Step 1: Scroll to the top of the page in the Academic Search Complete, CINAHL or MEDLINE databases.

Step 2: Click on the database name linked above the search boxes area, as illustrated below.

Step 3: A new window will open titled “Select databases to search,” as illustrated below:

You have a couple of options:

• Search all: Click on the "Select all" option at the top of the page (to select all of the databases), and click on the Select button to search, as illustrated below.
• Select databases by name: Skim the names of the 80+ database titles and select those that look relevant to your search. If you want to select specific databases, depending on the assignment, you could select databases such as: CINAHL (Nursing &  Health), MEDLINE (the content in PubMed), Academic Search Complete (multiple subjects), Business Source Complete, Education Source (education), Global Health, PsycInfo (psychology), and Social Work Abstracts, etc. databases at the same time, and then click on the Select button to search. 

Step 4: Click in the box to the left of the Select all to search al of the databases:

Step 5: Click on the Select button.

A note from Julie: If I am not sure which database to choose from the list, or if I am having a hard time finding something, I search across all of these databases at once by checking the Select box at the top of the page (and deselect them in the same box), and clicking on the OK button.

• The advantage of searching in multiple databases at the same time is that you are saving time, such as searching in both CINAHL and MEDLINE at the same time.
• The disadvantage is that the databases don’t use the same jargon and don’t have the same index and limiters. The majority of these databases represent a specific discipline, e.g. psychology and education, which has been developing for a long time. So you may have to search each the databases individually to get more specific and relevant results.
• You will need to make sure you are getting the publication type you need in your search results, such as a journal article, and not a newspaper article, depending on your assignment. You can ask the librarians for help with this.

These are databases that the UW Libraries subscribes to. EBSCO is a private company that is not affiliated with the University of Washington.