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.
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.
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:
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 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
- ABI/Inform Global
Search nearly 1800 worldwide business periodicals for in-depth coverage of business and economic conditions, management techniques, theory, and practice of business, advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more. Expanded international coverage. Fast access to information on 60,000 + companies with business and executive profiles. Now includes The Wall Street Journal.
- 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.
- Business Source Premier
Coverage includes management, economics, finance, accounting, and international business topics. Selected fulltext.
- 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
- 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 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.
- MLA Bibliography Modern Language Association database with abstracts of articles in the fields of literature, language and linguistics.
- 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.
- 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 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 a particular journal, magazine, or newspaper is available
online with full text?
Search for EJournals
from the library's home page.
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.
- New
York Times Navigator Includes links to web pages
selected by New York Times staff. Isn't currently revised but has some useful info.
- 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.
- 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 Zotero and separate article database citation managers, but remember they are not completely accurate.
- Ask for HELP
from Reference staff, 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.)
