Stewart Library - Weber State University

Classical Rhetorical Theory & Criticism

Comm 4150

NOTE:   Off-campus access to article 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 online catalog to find the location and availability of books and other media in Stewart Library. You may search for book-length biographies of individuals, collected speeches, books on rhetoric and rhetorical criticism, etc.

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 use to "refer" to. Use these resources for background information on a topic. We also have many good histories and chronologies in Reference to help put people and historical periods in perspective.

Ancient Greek and Roman Rhetoricians; A Biographical Dictionary   Reference PA 83.A5
British Rhetoricians and Logicians, 1500-1660    Reference PS 221.D5  (Volume 236 of Dictionary of Literary Biography)

Encyclopedia of Rhetoric  Available in print and online; off-campus access limited to WSU students, staff, and faculty   Reference PN 172.E52
Encyclopedia of World Biography     Reference CT 103 .E56 1998
Speech Index  Reference AI 3 .S85 1966  (older but still useful)
Timetables of History   Reference D 11 .G78 1991  (on Reference Table 2B)
World Philosophers and Their Works   Reference B 104 .W67 2000

Finding Articles

PRINT RESOURCES

Index to Journals in Communication Studies Through 1990 Classic print index by Matlon and Ortiz indexes about 20 journals from 1915 through 1990. Reference P 87 .I53 

 

ARTICLE DATABASES

To find articles on your topic you need to use article databases, also known as periodical indexes.  Databases are arranged by broad subject categories. Select the category most relevant to your topic. Search by subject or keyword in these indexes. Most databases are available from off-campus using your WSU user name and password.  Start at Database Finder.

  • Academic Search Premier  Offers full text articles from over 8000 scholarly journals in most subject areas. Has feature to limit searches to peer reviewed or refereed (scholarly) journals.
  • America : History and Life   Indexing and abstracts from historical journals covering American and Canadian history.
  • Biography Reference Bank  Includes some full text articles; especially good for well-known people since 1940.
  • ComAbstracts/ComIndex/CIOS A database devoted to articles and links to web sites on the broad topic of communication.
  • Comm Search  Available at the Media/Reserve desk. Provides full text for six journals published by the National Communication Association, 1991-1997. Abstract s for those journals cover 1978-1997. Includes Title, Author, and Keyword indexing for 26 professional journals, from inception through 1996.
  • Communication and Mass Media Complete Excellent database offering fulltext from over 200 core journals plus indexing and abstracts for several hundred additional titles
  • JSTOR Offers full text scholarly articles, many of which go back more than 50 years, in a wide variety of fields.
  • Literature Resource Center  Full text articles from a variety of print sources. Be sure to click on the Additonal Sources tab as well.
  • MLA Bibliography  Abstracts of articles in the field of literature and linguistics
  • ProjectMuse  Full text journals in arts and humanities

      CITING SOURCES

       Copies of the current edition of the APA style manual are available at the Reference desk. Additional information is available at the APA web site. You can also look at the guide prepared by Stewart Library faculty about writing citations.

Web Resources

Here are some web sites to get you started. Most of these will take you to other links, so explore!

American Memory Project  A great collection of primary documents from the Libraryof Congress

Americanrhetoric.com   Links to over 5000 full text, audio and video (streaming) versions of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, debates, interviews, other recorded media events

National Communication Association

University of Iowa   Great variety of links to communication sites

Yahoo Timelines  A great selection of chronologies and timelines

Research Tips

Updated April 7, 2008 .
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