Stewart Library - Weber State University


Research Guide: Comm 4990

Senior Seminar

NOTE:   Off-campus access to article databases listed in this guide is limited to WSU students, staff, and faculty and requires a WSU user name and password. If you have questions while doing research at home you can 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.

Finding Books

Using Catalogs: Use the WSU online 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.


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 in other or related subject areas may also be of interest to Comm students. Reference resources which are available online include:


Finding Articles

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 

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. Some databases include the full-text of articles, just as they appeared in print. Many databases provide only an abstract (summary) and citation.

  • 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
  • Click on the Find Full Text button in one database to see if an article is fulltext in a different database
  • Use Interlibrary Loan to get copies of articles or books Stewart Library doesn't own

The following  databases are good starting places. 

  • 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. 1964-Present.
  • CQ Researcher 
    Fulltext articles on topics of current interest. An excellent place to start researching a paper topic.  Good for background information.
  • ComAbstracts/ComIndex/CIOS A database devoted to indexing articles and links to web sites on the broad topic of communication.
  • Communication and Mass Media Complete The best starting place for articles from communication journals
  • EbscoHost Databases  Over two dozen databases including Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, Newspaper Source, ERIC, PsychINFO, and several health-related databases.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • JSTOR    Full text, scholarly articles in many fields
  • Lexis-Nexis The Academic Section is very strong in the fields of business, law,  and medicine. Also includes full text articles from newspapers around the USA and the world. Congressional Section has an amazing amount of information on Congress, current bills, etc.
  • MLA Bibliography  Modern Language Association database with abstracts of articles in the fields of 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.  Check out my Quick Guide to Web Searching 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 the Database Finder 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 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, 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.
  • New York Times Navigator   Includes links to web pages selected by New York Times staff.  Requires free registration.
  • 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 section devoted to journalism students has many helpful links
  • RobertNiles.com  Useful web links for journalists.
  • Search engines guide  Use this guide by Stewart Library faculty to link to various search engines, find a search engines feature chart, etc.

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 including Boolean logic, adjacency searching and truncation
  • Use the Online catalog to find books and to check which journals are owned by Stewart Library
  • 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
  • Use Interlibrary loan to get materials that are not available through 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.
  • Use appropriate style to document and cite research. Try CitationMachine but note it may not be completely accurate.
  • Ask for HELP   from Reference staff, via phone, chat, or email.

 


Updated January 13, 2008 . Please send comments to Kathy Payne
Weber State University, Stewart Library. Copyright © 2008 All Rights Reserved.