According to the Cambridge Dictionary of English, a basic definition of the word "website" is "a place on the Internet with one or more pages of information about a subject."
Of course, in modern libraries, most articles and books are offered in electronic format -- via online databases. They're definitely "on the Internet, with one or more pages of information about a subject"! So, are the APUS Library's databases "websites," and each article or ebook a "web page"? Technically, yes!
But, in academic research, when we say "website" or "web page" -- we're usually talking about the "open web" -- sites that do not require a subscription fee to use them. These are the kinds of pages that you can find with Google or another search engine. Some of these may be a good fit for a research assignment in your class. Others will not.Click here for open web search tips.
A library's online databases, and the articles and ebooks inside them, are not free to just anyone. And, they typically aren't searched by Google or other Internet search engines -- you have to access them via a subscribing library (they're sometimes called the "deep web" or "hidden web" as a result). Each database in our library is geared toward scholarly content, and each is purchased to support students in the various degree programs at APUS.
