AgeLine Database
About Ageline
- What Is AgeLine?
- Using AgeLine to Find: Research & Policy Publications
- Using AgeLine to Find: Professional & Provider Publications
- Using AgeLine to Find: General Interest & Consumer Publications
- AgeLine Quick Facts
- AgeLine Content Selection
- What Users Say about AgeLine
- AgeLine Access & Distributors
What Is AgeLine?
AgeLine is an online, bibliographic database produced by AARP that focuses on the subject of aging and middle-aged and older adults, particularly addressing the social, psychological, economic, policy, and health care aspects of aging.
AgeLine summarizes journal articles, books and chapters, research reports, dissertations, gray literature, and educational videos from many publishers and organizations, including AARP. Links to full text or ordering options are included wherever possible. AgeLine is produced by AARP’s Research Information Center and can be searched on this site at no cost. Many academic and health libraries subscribe to AgeLine through licensed distributors–subscriptions may include links to full text of material cited in AgeLine. For more information, see AgeLine Access & Distributors. You can search AgeLine by subject, author, title, or journal name or year or you can browse ready-made searches on high-interest topics using AgeLine's Searches to Go.
Using AgeLine to Find:
Research & Policy Publications. AgeLine is primarily a research database. It abstracts the literature of social gerontology as well as aging-related content from psychology, psychiatry, sociology, social work, demography, economics, policy studies, and the health sciences. It includes journal articles, books and book chapters, dissertations, and research and policy reports from many academic, nonprofit, and governmental sources. Use "limit options" on the AgeLine search page to restrict your search to research or public policy publications.
Professional & Provider Publications. A substantial portion of AgeLine covers publications from professional journals and books written for health and social service professionals, as well as for planners, administrators, and developers of aging-related services, programs, and facilities. Topics include workplace and employment issues, legal issues, and marketing and media perspectives. Use "limit options" on the AgeLine search page to restrict your search to professional/provider publications only.
General Interest & Consumer Publications. AgeLine describes useful, informative books and articles on health, money, work, retirement, family, and personal and community concerns written for the general public. Use "limit options" on the AgeLine search page to restrict your search to general/consumer publications only.
AgeLine Quick Facts
- AgeLine contains over 90,000 English-language publication abstracts and is updated bimonthly (every even month) with about 800 new items.
- Publications are from 1978 to the present, with selected coverage from 1966-1977.
- AgeLine content is identical on AARP's web site and on licensed AgeLine distributors. See AgeLine Access & Distributors for more information.
- All AgeLine content is related to aging and older adults, so it is best NOT to include such terms as "aging," "aged," or "elderly" in a search. For more information see the help message Avoiding aging-related words in your search.
- All AgeLine material is indexed with terms (descriptors) from the "Thesaurus of Aging Terminology" published by AARP. See Thesaurus information.
- AgeLine abstracts articles from over 600 journals and magazines. See Journal Title List for currently indexed journal titles.
- Extensive help messages are provided with each search screen in AgeLine. For a complete list, go to AgeLine search help topics.
- The AgeLine Help Desk (ageline@aarp.org) provides search assistance to all AgeLine users and responds to queries and comments.
Selection of AgeLine Content
All material selected for AgeLine has a significant focus on aging from a social/behavioral/economic perspective or it emphasizes the concerns, interests, and experiences of adults aged 50 and over. AgeLine covers health, health care, and health behaviors in some depth, but it is not a medical database and does not cover clinical medicine or biological and physiological aspects of aging.
AARP welcomes suggestions about materials to be included in AgeLine which meet these criteria and are included in the publication types given in the table below. Please contact AgeLine at ageline@aarp.org before submitting materials.
AgeLine Publication Types
AgeLine includes:
- Books
- Book chapters
- Conference proceedings
- Dissertations
- Gray literature
- Government reports
- Journal and magazine articles
- Newsletter articles (substantial; selective)
- Policy analysis
- Research reports
- Special journal issues
- Videos (documentary; educational)
AgeLine does not include:
- Book reviews
- Editorials
- Newspaper articles
- Single conference papers
- Statistical data files
What Users Say About AgeLine
"AgeLine is the one indispensable resource for anyone seriously interested in gerontology or issues of aging and public policy."
Professor and researcher
"I truly believe AgeLine helped save lives when our local nursing home consulted AgeLine before relocating their residents to a new facility."
Hospital librarian
"This database is of immense value and help to the students and provides information which it would be very difficult to get elsewhere."
International academic training center librarian
"AgeLine's current online version is user-friendly, comprehensive, and uniquely useful for gerontological researchers."
Graduate student in social work
"I should like to explore it much further. At 81 years of age, I am beginning to realize that I am a senior. Isn't that great!"
Web site visitor
AgeLine Access & Distributors
The complete AgeLine database is available free on this AARP web site. It is also available through licensed commercial database distributors who sell subscriptions to academic and other institutions. The content of AgeLine is the same no matter where you search it. Advantages of using a distributor include the ability to cross-search several related databases at one time; links to your own library's collection, including access to the full text of articles online; and an array of sophisticated search and retrieval options.
Please refer to AgeLine Database Licensed Distributors for more details. Note that distributors, not AARP, set subscription prices, which are subject to change.