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Using Individual Databases in 
When you choose your database, you will be taken to a page with the titles of the articles in that database that relate to your search. Let's assume that you choose to start with Proquest. Your titles page will look like this:
The page layout in Proquest will be different from other databases such as Academic Search Elite or InfoTrac OneFile, but the basics are the same. You'll see your list of article titles. Take a look at each title until you see one that appeals to you.
Let's assume that you're interested in No. 4. Notice that under each title, you have the option of looking at the full-text (if available) or the abstract. Even if the full-text is available, you'll probably want to read the abstract first. Remember, the abstract is a short summary of the article. By reading the abstract, you can very quickly decide if the article will be helpful to you without having to read or skim the entire article.
Let's assume that we've decided No. 4 will be useful to us. Here are some ways we can hold on to that article for future use:
In most databases, there will be buttons for printing, e-mailing and saving the article to disk located at the top and/or bottom of each article. In the case of Proquest, there is no Save button. The best way to save a document in Proquest is to click on the Print button. That will take you to a page that is similar to the page you were looking at, except all the hyperlinks and buttons have been removed, allowing for a cleaner look. To save, go to your toolbar, click "File", then click "Save As", and save the article to your storage medium of choice.
(Hint: When you save the article, it will probably be titled "Document View" or "Proquest Document" or some other generic title. Be sure to change the title of each document to the title of the article or some other unique name.)
You can also e-mail the document to yourself or to others if you're doing a group project. Let's press the e-mail button and take a look at that page.
On the e-mail page, enter your name and the e-mail address of the person you want to send it to. (In most databses, you can e-mail multiple people at the same time by putting a semi-colon (;) between each e-mail address.) You can also put a Subject heading and a short message in each e-mail, although it isn't necessary.
In each database, you can choose to send only the full-text, only the citation and abstract or some combination. Most of the time, you'll want to choose the option that has the most information, as you'll need some of the citation/abstract information for your Works Cited or Bibliography page.
Once you've filled everything out, click the Send E-Mail button and it will be in the recipient's e-mail address within a few minutes.
This covers the basics of using EZSearch and the NCLIVE databases. But did you know that you can read the entire contents of publications such as Time and Consumer Reports through NCLIVE? Or that you can find databases devoted to certain types of resources such as business, health and education? You can also find information on how to cite articles you find in NCLIVE. Click below for details.
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