For this week’s module we learned the differences between multiple databases and how they yield different results. Among the databases I used was the common ProQuest database which I was granted access by George Mason University. Weirdly though, I was searching the database for information related to the popular brand Scrub Daddy which is a kitchen sponge, and actually was able to find a few articles related to such…below I have included a review of the database and said article.
Overview: ProQuest allows for both a basic/general search as well as an advanced search option. The basic search simply is typing in different keywords at the top of the page to yield general sources. One can specify based on source type including journals, dissertations/thesis’s, and books for example. The advanced search allows for a scholar to search by using keywords that are mentioned in specific areas such as only in the title or publication. They are able to specify if the article is peer reviewed, what type of source, what type of document, and the language the source is in. On top of this, ProQuest grants access to 118 different databases that provide digital information of the sources including the business indexing term (subject, corporation, and industry), article classification, author and publication information, copyright, and ISSN number.
Facts: ProQuest, spans as far back as six centuries according to their about page which would put its date range between roughly 1424-2024. ProQuest is available in 150 different countries, it has over nine thousand publishers working with the database and is available in four hundred universities in the world. The main company that ProQuest is apart of is Clarivate which is considered a “leading global provider of information” and grants access to the government, academic institutions, health care and more. ProQuest is full text searchable when downloaded as a pdf file and includes a search with indexing terms section.
History: Again, ProQuest currently operates under the company Clarivate, but it was originally a microfilm publisher in 1939 and is considered “an off-site archive for the United States Library of Congress” with its original sources being dissertations. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ProQuest#:~:text=ProQuest%20was%20founded%20as%20a,United%20States%20Library%20of%20Congress.)
Reviews: I found a review of ProQuest at https://tortolatailspin.onmason.com/2012/09/09/the-pros-cons-of-proquest/ that discusses how ProQuest is a great database since it allows to only a basic search but for a deeper, more specific search where one can search for more than just a book or article. The database also includes a vast amount of sources and information going very far back which is useful to all. The article also discusses the disadvantage of ProQuest being that you cannot downloaded images with the articles, the images of newspapers are in black and white, and ProQuest is not very diverse, having many sources from the American point of view. These disadvantages aside, it is still considered a great database.
Access: Access to ProQuest is limited to the academic institution realm and does not allow for individual subscriptions or access. (https://support.proquest.com/s/article/Individual-subscription-to-ProQuest?language=en_US#:~:text=ProQuest%20is%20a%20subscription%2Dbased,if%20they%20offer%20remote%20access.)
Information From Publisher: Clarivate is the owner of ProQuest which in turn makes them the publisher for the site. As already mentioned, Clarivate is a global provider of information to many areas including the academia world. Clarivate provides a services by granting access to academic and scientific research, biopharma intelligence, IP intelligence, and many more areas.
Citing: In regards to citing, ProQuest does an automatic citation for individual in multiple formats including the most common APA, MLA, and Chicago among other formats of different version as well. ProQuest also provides a step by step guideline of how to create citations for any of their sources which can be found here: https://pq-static-content.proquest.com/collateral/media2/documents/proquest_citation_guide.pdf
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