NOTE:
Off-campus access
to library databases listed in this guide is limited to WSU students,
staff, and faculty. If you have questions, chat with us online.
Just click on the Online Assistance button at the top right of this
page. Or call the Reference Desk 626-6415 or toll free 1-877-306-3140
FINDING BOOKS
Using Catalogs: Use the WSU library catalog to find the location and availability of books and other media in Stewart Library. Use WorldCat for books and media in many other library catalogs and to expand your search beyond Stewart Library's collection.
Interlibrary Loan: If we do not own a particular book or article you need, we will borrow it for you from another library through Interlibrary Loan.
FINDING NEWSPAPER
AND JOURNAL ARTICLES
Newspaper articles may
be found both on the web and in article databases to which the library
subscribes. Generally news websites have limited archives and can have different content than any print version. Use article databases for additional coverage.
WEB SITES FOR NEWS
- Yahoo's News
and Media Directory is a good place to start
- Gary Price has compiled a huge list of links to both national
and international news at NewsCenter.
Although it is no longer being updated, it may be of use
- Newseum offers today's
front page from over 400 newspapers in 37 countries with many
from major US cities
- Try stateline.org to
find out what's currently happening in any of the 50 states. It
also includes biographical information on each state's governor
and links to a variety of state information.
- Nettop20.com has convenient links to the major news outlets in various categories. It includes broadcast, news wires, entertainment, current events and other non-news categories etc.
- Twitter - a number of recent news stories have been broken on Twitter. To do a better subject search, use hashtags (#) for example: #iranelections (no spaces allowed) or check out the list of popular topics on the Twitter home page. (Remember, credibility and accuracy are always concerns with these kinds of reports.)
- Check out this handy guide to social news websites such as Reddit and Digg on DoshDosh (by Maki). (There's also a Beginner's Guide to social news sites.)
- There are a large number of news blogs out there. There are a lot of guides to them as well. Try starting with this entry from Squidoo by
Pito Salas.
ARTICLE DATABASES
-
Use article databases to find articles on your topic. Search by subject or keyword in these indexes. See Research Tips (below) for suggestions on effective search strategies. Many databases include the full-text of articles, just as they appeared in print. If you don't see fulltext, but want the article:
- Click on the Find FullText link or button in a database to see if an article is fulltext in a different database
- Use Ejournals to see if the library subscribes to a particular journal in print or electronic format
- Use Interlibrary Loan to get copies of articles or books Stewart Library doesn't own
The following databases may be useful.
- Communication and Mass Media Complete The best starting place for articles from communication journals
- Academic Search Premier Over 8800 magazines and journals, many with full text articles, covering most topics
- CQ Researcher - summaries of important current issues. A good place to begin and/or get background information - it includes statistics, pro and con views, etc.
- CIS Congressional Universe - a companion database to Lexis/Nexis - the place to look for legistlative information.
- ComAbstracts/ComIndex/CIOS A database devoted to articles and links to web sites on the broad topic of communication
- Ethnic NewsWatch
Full text Articles from minority and ethnic newspapers, magazines, and journals in English and Spanish. 1960-present.
- GenderWatch Newspaper, magazine, and journal articles addressing the impact of gender in society. 1990-Present (with selected articles from the 1970's and 1980's) Full-text.
- Lexis-Nexis Includes full text articles from newspapers around the USA and the world. Also transcripts from some news services, such as CNN. Good source for court cases and law review articles as well as business and corporate information.
- Newspaper Source - another large fulltext newspaper database from Ebsco.
- Proquest Newspapers - includes fulltext of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times among many others.
- Google Scholar - this is a good place to find "gray" literature such as conference proceedings and also articles on topics not covered by library databases. The cited reference feature is an easy way to expand your bibliography. Check out my Quick Guide to Web Searching or click on the Google Scholar link on the library's home page to see how to link to ejournals available at WSU.
Don't forgot to search subject databases in your topic area. They often have useful information. Go to Article Databases and click on the closest subject area. Then scroll down the list and read the descriptions.
NEWSPAPERS
- Ethnic & Gender News
Cross search the Ethnic and Gender Newswatch Databases
- LexisNexis Academic
Fulltext coverage of many news, legal, and business resources. Dates of coverage vary, many update daily.
- Newspaper Source
Provides full-text for 128 regional U.S. newspapers, fifteen international newspapers, six newswires, and nine newspaper columns, The Christian Science Monitor and The Los Angeles Times, for a total of 160 full text newspapers and other sources.
- Proquest Newspapers
Full-text of 300+ U.S. and international news sources, including the Wall Street Journal.
- Utah Digital Newspapers
Digital versions of local Utah newspapers. Coverage varies with paper, but ranges from the late 19th through the mid-20th centuries.
- Wall Street Journal
Full-text access to the premier financial newspaper
- Google News Archive Search - a handy way to search news archives from multiple sources. Some are free, others are fee based. Fee based articles may be available through other databases or via ILL. Also provides a nifty timeline. Good way to track changes over time. Some coverage may go back several hundred years.
NOTE: Want to know if we own access to a particular journal, magazine, or newspaper online with full text?
Search for EJournals from the library's home page.
FINDING FACTS,
STATISTICS, AND OTHER INFORMATION
Stewart Library owns many
excellent reference sources. The Internet provides access
to many more.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
- CQ
Researcher Each weekly issue is devoted to a topic of current
interest, such as government spending, abortion, genetic engineering,
mental health, etc., with a chronology, statistics, an examination
of the different facets of the issue, and a bibliography. A good
place to start. (Print version available at Reference desk for
1991-2006)
- Facts on File (Print only, 1950-2004, located in Reference
and General Collections: D 410 .F3) Summary of U.S. and
world events; weekly, with annual compilations.
- Other
FINDING
FACTS
Almanacs
are compilations of facts and figures on just about any
subject, from the Super Bowl to the Oscars, from the GNP of Mali
to the seven wonders of the ancient world. Two of the best known
are:
- The World Almanac Current print edition at Reference
desk, also available via Academic Search Premier (click on publications and type World Almanac.)
- Infoplease.com - this is a good online almanac, but has very annoying ads and pop-ups.
Encyclopedias are
excellent sources of basic information on a subject.
- Stewart Library subscribes to many online encyclopedias.
Good ones to start with are:
- Subject specific encyclopedias may be found by using the Library catalog
or ask at the Reference Desk.
Chronologies
Use chronologies to find out who did what, when.
- Several excellent general and subject specific chronologies
are in the Reference area. For example:
American Decades
REF E 169.12 .A419 OR World Eras REF D20.W67
- Many chronologies and timelines may also be found on the
web. The timelines listed by Yahoo
are a good place to start.
Virtual Libraries
Compilations of a wide variety of web resources, sorted by subject.
Famous First Facts
Want to know who did what first? This is the place to look.
REF
AG5.K315 2006
. (Also known as Kane's
Famous First Facts)
Chase's Calendar
of Events Day-by-day directory listing birthdays,
anniversaries, annual events, etc. Located REF GT4803.C48
FINDING STATISTICS
Other resources The
library owns or has access to numerous other statistical resources.
Many statistical sources are located on Reference Table 9B.
For other information, ask for help at the Reference desk.
FINDING
GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
Government
publicaitons are a wonderful source of information on practically
any subject. Most of the government documents we own are located in
the Government Publications stacks at the north end of the main
floor, past the Reference desk. Some of our documents are listed
on the library catalog. To find other documents use finding aids, such as
those listed below. (For statistics, see C.
Finding Statistics)
General
- Links to some of the best government web sites can be found
on Stewart Library's government
documents page. The
University of Michigan and the University
of Memphis also have excellent Internet home pages listing
many government sites.
- GPO Access is
the main gateway to Federal government information. It
contains links to the budget, GAO Reports, Congressional information,
Supreme Court decisions, presidential documents and more.
- Monthly Catalog is an index to documents published by the
Government Printing Office. The online version is known as Catalog
of U.S. Government Publications and goes back to 1994.
Print editions before that date may be found in our Government
Publications area.
Congressional Information
For other sources of
information about Congress, try the following:
Census
information is available on the web at www.census.gov
as well as on CD-ROM and in book form. Their "Facts
for Features" provides ideas and statistics
for current event articles. Also check out the American
FactFinder.
Utah
Census and demographic information may be found online. Books
with detailed information from the most recent census are kept
at the Reference desk. Other census material is located in the
government publications stacks.
State Information
may be found at stateline.org
and from the Stewart Library State
Resources web page.
Utah government
All Utah state documents owned by the library are listed in our
library catalog.
The Utah Code is on Reference Table 2A and online via
LexisNexis
Academic. For information about Utah on the web, see
Utah.gov.
Local government
The library keeps some Ogden/Weber government information,
such as the Ogden City budget on Reference Table 2A. There
are also web pages for Ogden,
Weber County and Davis
County. For other Utah links, see the Stewart Library's Utah
page.
Other government
information
- CIA
World FactBook is a good source of basic information
(print edition located on Reference Table 5B.)
- The United Nations
has a good web page with many international facts and statistics
- Use the University
of Michigan Documents page for easy access to state and
city government pages.
FINDING LEGAL
INFORMATION
Federal Laws
CIS
Congressional Universe is the best place to start for federal
laws and legislation. For other sources of information about
the federal legislative process, look at the following:
State and Federal Laws,
Court Cases, etc.
- LexisNexis
Academic includes codes and court cases from all states.
Many law journals are available with full-text articles.
Utah Laws
- The Utah Code in print is on Reference Table
2A. It is also available in LexisNexis
Academic and the web. For information about Utah laws on
the web, see Utah.gov..
All Utah state documents owned by the library are listed in
the library's library catalog.
Media Law information
The best way to find information about media and communications
law is to look for a specific subject area. If you look
for books and articles using general terms like media law
or communications law, you may not find much. You
will find a lot of information if you use such terms as:
First Amendment, freedom of the press, libel, privacy, the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA), obscenity, protection of sources, Internet,
copyright and so on.
General background
information
Useful
Legal Sites on the Internet
FINDING INFORMATION ON PEOPLE, PLACES & GROUPS
Finding People
Besides searching directories such as Switchboard.com
and search engines such as Google.com
try these:
Finding Places
Atlases and gazetteers are the places to start. Geographical
information in print format may be found in the following books
on Reference Table 5A:
- The Columbia Gazetteer of the World.
- Encyclopedia of World Cultures
- The Europa World Year Book Especially good for
statistics on each country of the world
- The Statesman's Yearbook Basic facts on countries
of the world
Online sources include
Finding Groups
- The Encyclopedia of Associations (kept at Reference
desk) lists American groups and organizations. The
Encyclopedia of Associations: International Associations
is also located at the Reference Desk.
- The Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media (Reference
Table 2B) provides information about media such as officials,
addresses, circulation, range, etc.
- The Washington Information Directory (at Reference
desk) is a guide to government and private groups working in
Washington, D.C. It includes addresses and contacts for
government agencies, lobbyists, media groups, etc.
Finding Information
about Weber State
- Back issues of the Signpost and yearbooks are available
in Special Collections, 2nd floor south.
- University Archives can be found in Archives, Stewart
Library.
- WSU Budget is kept in Media/Reserve on the lower level.
- The Budget and Institutional Research Office
home page is a particularly good source of information.
- The Communication Department
also has a home page.
- WSU home page.
REPORTING
RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET
SITES FOR JOURNALISTS
American
Communication Association Contains links to information
of interest to all in the field of communications, such as freedom
of speech and information issues, telecommunications issues, and
guides to information in many communications subfields.
American Journalism Review
A premier site for journalists. Check out their "Reporters'
Tools" and "Writing Aids" (under Resources)
CIOS:
Communication Institute for Online Scholarship Provides
access to a large number of useful internet links, articles on
communication, and so on.
Committee
to Protect Journalism Dedicated to freedom of the press
around the world.
Web Current Awareness Sites - a list of sites by Robert Teeter
CyberJournalist.net
This site includes journalism news and lots of relevant links.
Click on their "Tips & Tools" for info about online
journalism and how to use the Internet for reporting. By the American
Press Institute.
The
Electronic Journalist Lots of useful information
from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Fairness
& Accuracy in Reporting FAIR, a national watch group,
reports on media bias and censorship issues.
IRE:
Investigative Reporters and Editors Organization page with
much information on developing and maintaining skills, job postings
and other journalism information. Their Broadcast Center includes
award-winning clips of video-streamed broadcasts for the past
20 years.
JournalismNet
By Julian Sher. Has information about and links to resources
for finding internet information, finding people, online media,
databases and reference tools, story topics, etc. Based
in Canada, but very useful for anyone in the field.
JournalistExpress
A favorite site of Peter Jennings, this one aims to give busy
journalists the best of the web.
Media
Guide to the Utah State Courts Designed to assist journalists
to navigate the court system as they report on cases and court
programs
MegaSources
Compiled by Dean Tudor, Professor at the Ryerson Polytechnic
University (Canada) School of Journalism. Despite
emphasis on Canadian sources, very useful for U.S. reporters as
well. Subjects covered include finding experts, a
list of "best on the net" resources, online reference
help, search engines, etc.
Robert Niles Produced by Robert Niles. The section
on on Finding Data has a very useful annotated list of links.
Also provides a tutorial for understanding the types of
statistics used today.
Power
Reporting Lots of great links here, including top 100 Web
sites for journalists (no longer being updated, but still useful)
Student
Press Law Center "A nonprofit organization dedicated
to providing legal help and information to student media and journalism
educators."
Virtual
Gumshoe A good collection of links for investigative reporting.
Writing
and Reporting News, by Carol Rich, 4th ed. The online
guide to accompany this textbook has links to many good websites,
organized by topic.
OTHER USEFUL SITES
Ethics
Updates Provides updates on current literature that
relates to ethics.
FBI
FOIA Files Online access to some of the FBI files
released because of the Freedom of Information Act.
Freedom
of Information Center Provides information and guides
to FOIA.
Media
History Project "Promoting the study of media history
from petroglyphs to pixels"
The
National Security Archive A non-governmental research
institute and library located at George Washington University.
It collects and publishes documents obtained through the FOIA.
The
Smoking Gun Another group that publishes FOIA and other
documents, more oriented to celebrities and "hot" news.
The
Wayback Machine (= Internet Archive) "a digital
library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital
form."
American
Memory Historical Collections from the Library of Congress.
A great place to find information and images for retrospective/historical
pieces.
Snopes.com
Check out the validity of web rumors and urban legends - also check out the Museum of Hoaxes
You can't
find everything on the web, but you can find a lot. Make
it easy on yourself and learn how to use a search engine properly
- always check out the advanced search features. Besides
Google, try
Google Scholar, alltheweb.com
and ask.com which offers
suggestions for narrowing your topic. Bing is also worth a try.
Learn how to Google like a pro:
A Scholarly Guide to Google from Widener Library, Harvard.
"The Hidden Web"
consists of sites that search engines can't find, usually due
to the type of files they contain, such as database files.
Many of these sites are very useful. The best way to find
them is to use directory listings. Good general directories
include: Librarian's Internet Index
and The Internet Public Library,
as well as the directory features of Google and Yahoo .
- Clearly identify your information need
- Identify key words and search terms to match your topic
- Develop search statements using advanced search techniques such as Boolean logic, adjacency searching and truncation.
- Use the Online catalog to find books, videos and other materials
- Use an appropriate article database to find journal articles, ask a librarian for help if you're not sure what's best
- Use Interlibrary loan to get materials that are not in Stewart Library
- Use search engines to find Web information
- Carefully evaluate the information you find for usefulness and quality
- Revise your search terms and strategy to expand or narrow your results, be creative, look in other areas
- Use appropriate style to document and cite research
- Ask for HELP at Reference , via phone, chat, or email
- To check database status, new sources, etc. follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stewartlibrary (NOTE: you don't need an account to read our page.)
