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Communication M.S. (grad students): Articles/Databases
Find articles
- Find information in the Communications Databases listed in the box below on the left by using the search tips in the box below on the right.
- Take a look at the Tutorials in the box below Communications Databases for short demonstrations in using our libraries.
- To interpret or understand research methods, take a look at the SAGE encyclopedia:
- The SAGE encyclopedia of communication research methodsCall Number: eBookPublication Date: 2017Covers every step of the research process, from the development of research topics and questions to literature reviews, and selection of best methods for analyzing research results
Communications databases
- Communication SourceJournal articles & more on all aspects of communication.
- Web of ScienceIncludes a "cited reference" search so you can trace a theory and how it's been built on by newer researchers.
- ProQuest Social Science JournalsHas journal articles on all aspects of communication.
- MLA International Bibliography with Full TextCovers rhetoric, language, linguistics, & folklore.
- Sage Research MethodsExplains qualitative research methods.
Tutorials
- Focus Your TopicThis video shows different ways of focusing a topic for a research paper.
- Build Your Search StrategyThis short video explains how to develop a search strategy before finding books and media or articles in databases. These concepts are universal and apply to any search.
- Keywords, Search Terms, and Subject HeadingsThis short video demonstrates finding items with keywords and subject terms.
- Databases, journals, & articlesVideo defines each and explains how they fit together
- Bias in Information Sources3 1/2 minute video defines bias in information and how to address it.
- Citation TutorialLearn and test your skills in making references or bibliographies.
- Request Books, Journals in Print Form, and DVDsWatch video of the ASRS robot in action.
Some books, DVDs, and journals are in the book retrieval system (Automated Storage Retrieval System or ASRS) behind the Service Desk on the 1st floor.
Search tips for finding articles
- use "quotation marks" around phrases
- truncate - shorten a word to its trunk or root to get alternate endings - with an asterisk * (shift 8), e.g., truncat* finds truncate, truncated, truncation
- apply Boolean connector AND to combine unlike ideas, e.g., dance AND promotion
- apply Boolean connector OR to connect synonyms, e.g., advertisements OR campaigns
Put it all together:
- "hip hop dance" in one box
- AND (promot* OR advertis* OR campaigns) in the next box
- use parentheses in single-box searching - when you don't have another set of boxes, e.g.,:
- "hip hop dance" AND (promot* OR advertis* OR campaigns)
Use the left or right menus to narrow your results, e.g., by language, date, subject, etc.
Databases have a citation (information about an article such as the title, author, name of the journal or magazine, volume and issue (which correspond to the date), date, and pages) and sometimes they will also contain an abstract, or summary, of the article.
Databases also often cite multiple types of resources - books, essays or chapters, government documents, etc.
Some databases will also have the complete item (called the full text): you should see a link to an HTML or PDF document. Or click on - this will check the other library databases for the full text of the article.
- Last Updated: Oct 16, 2024 10:29 AM
- URL: https://libguides.gvsu.edu/mscom