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Research Methods

Comm 3150

 

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Finding Books

Using Catalogs: Use the WSU online catalog to find the location and availability of books and other media in Stewart Library. Also use the catalog to determine whether or not the library subscribes to a particular journal or magazine in paper format. Some, but not all, of the magazines and journals which we have available electronically are listed in the catalog.

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.


Reference Resources

Reference resources include encyclopedias, dictionaries and other materials you "refer" to rather than reading cover to cover. Use these resources for background information on a topic.  Some print reference resources useful for Communication students include:
  • Encyclopedia of Communication and Information  Reference P 87.5 .E53 2002 
  • History of the Mass Media in the United States  Reference P 92 .U5H55 1998 
  • International Encyclopedia of Communications  Reference P 87.5 .I5 1989 
  • Keyguide to Information Sources in Media Ethics  Reference P 94 .M22 1998 

Reference resources which are available online include:


Finding Articles

ARTICLE DATABASES

Use article databases to find articles on your topic.  Databases are arranged by broad subject categories.  Search by subject or keyword in these databases. See Research Tips (below) for suggestions on effective search strategies. Some databases include the full-text of articles, just as they appeared in print.

  • Use the library catalog to see if we own a particular journal in paper copy
  • Use Ejournals to see if the library subscribes to a particular journal in electronic format or paper copy (print holdings)
  • Use Interlibrary Loan to get copies of articles from journals unavailable in print or electronicaly

NOTE:   Off-campus access to article databases listed in this guide is limited to WSU students, staff, and faculty. Login with your WSU username and password when prompted. If you have questions, chat with us online. Just click on the Live Assistance button at the top right of this page. Or call the Reference Desk 626-6415  or toll free 1-877-306-3140

The following  databases are good starting places.   Be sure to check for other databases in your subject area:  for example, if you're doing a paper on dialects in America, check out the big English database.  If you're interested in business communications, check out our business databases.

  • Academic Search Premier  Over 8800 magazines and journals, many with full text articles, covering most topics
  • America: History and Life    Indexes scholarly literature on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.  Covers research 1964-Present.
  • CIS Congressional Universe - a companion database to Lexis/Nexis - the place to look for legistlative information.
  • Communication and Mass Media Complete The best starting place for articles from communication journals
  • ComAbstracts/ComIndex/CIOS A database devoted to articles and links to web sites on the broad topic of communication
  • 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.
  • Education Full Text  Indexing and some full text articles that are relevant to the field of communication
  • ERIC A national database devoted to all aspects of education. Stewart Library has most ERIC documents (start with ED followed by six digits) on microfiche. ERIC documents from 1993-2004 may be available full text online. Articles in journals not owned by Stewart Library may be obtained on interlibrary loan. Another version of ERIC is available at www.eric.ed.gov
  • Ethnic & Gender NewsWatch 
    Full text Articles from minority and ethnic newspapers, magazines, and journals in English and Spanish. 1960-present.
  • 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.
  • MLA Bibliography  Modern Language Association database with abstracts of articles in the fields of literature, language and linguistics.
  • PsycInfo  Indexing goes back to 1887 in some titles. Has links to some more recent full text articles
  • Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection  This database provides coverage of nearly 550 full text journals
  • Sociological Abstracts Abstracts and indexing in a wide range of fields, including communication research
  • 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.  Click on the Google Scholar link on the library's home page to see how to link to ejournals available at WSU.

    PRINT INDEXES

    The following print indexes are located in the Stewart Library:

    • Index to Journals in Communication Studies through 1990 (referred to as Matlon & Ortiz)  Reference P 87 .I53 1992 
    • Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (1985-2004) P1.L28742 in General Collections, middle level
    • International Abstracts of Human Resources, formerly Personnel Management Abstracts (discontinued 2006) Reference HF1.P4674     Good for finding articles about communication in busines

 

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 a particular journal, magazine, or newspaper is available online with full text?

Search for EJournals from the library's home page.


Web Resources

These web sites are of special interest to journalism students.

  • 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. 
  • The Electronic Journalist   Lots of useful information from the Society of Professional Journalists
  • MegaSources Compiled by Dean Tudor, Emeritus 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.
  • Power Reporting Lots of great links here, including top 100  Web sites for journalists. Use their Tutorial on Web Searching to improve your web searching techniques
  • Poynter.org  Their tagline is "Everything you need to be a better journalist"
  • RobertNiles.com  Useful web links for journalists. Clcik on Finding Data on the right of the page


Research Tips

  • Use the Stewart Library's Research Tips guide
  • Clearly identify your information need
  • Identify key words and search terms to match your topic
  • Develop search statements using advanced search techniques
    • Boolean logic, adjacency searching and truncation
  • Use the Online catalog to find books
  • Use article databases to find journal articles
  • If articles are not full text, search Ejournals to see if a particular journal is full text in another database
  • If a journal is not available full text online, check the online catalog to see if the journal is owned by Stewart Library in paper copy. Materials are arranged by their call numbers.
  • Use Interlibrary loan to get materials that are not available through Stewart Library
  • Carefully evaluate the information you find for usefulness and quality
  • Revise your search terms and strategy to expand or narrow your results.
  • Use appropriate style to document and cite research
  • Ask for HELP at  Reference , via phone, chat, or email.

 

Updated September 22, 2010 . Please send comments to Carol Hansen
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