Why would you choose one database over another? Good question.  Each database has different holdings, that is, each database carries different publications that cover different academic areas or contain different types of publications (i.e. newspapers, popular magazines, academic journals, etc).  Being selective is very important, therefore it is important to learn what you can about the holdings of each database.  Be sure to read the descriptions for each database.

To learn more about criteria for selecting information resources, try the tutorial.