BECA 300 -- Researching Communications Topics

About

This Web page is designed to assist you in researching communications topics. You should use it in conjunction with the Library's Broadcasting bibliography/research guide.

Locating Books

Use InvestiGator, the online catalog, to locate books in the Library. You can search InvestiGator by author, title, subject or call number (shelving number) or by title and subject keyword(s). You can search InvestiGator on campus or from home (http://opac.sfsu.edu).

To determine which subject headings to type in, consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings volumes located in the Reference Area on the lst floor of the Library. Another way to establish appropriate subject headings is to do a keywords search, look at the subject headings assigned to the books you pull up by title and subject keyword(s), and, then, do a subject search using those subject headings.

You will probably want to limit your search by sorting the books you find by publication date so that the most recent books appear on the screen first. You may also limit your search by location, language, format, etc.

For more information on searching InvestiGator, look at the online InvestiGator Help screens.

Masters Theses written at San Francisco State University are also searchable on InvestiGator (http://www.library.sfsu.edu/research/guides/dissert.html).

To find other books, including books that are not "available" in the Library, search Link+, an online catalog for a number of California academic and public libraries.

You can also access CSU, UC and other libraries' online catalogs from the Library Web site.

Subject Encyclopedias

A good place to begin your research is with a subject encyclopedia. If your topic is discussed, the article(s) will help you to place your subject in a conceptual framework and lead you to research that has already been done.

In the field of communication research, the International Encyclopedia of Communications (Ref Stacks P 87.5 I5) is such a subject encyclopedia. It has a detailed subject index in the last volume.

To locate other reference books that may assist you in your research, consult the Broadcasting bibliography/research guide.

Periodical and Other Indexes

To locate very recent information and to research very specific topics, it is generally necessary to find periodical and other articles. Periodicals include popular magazines, scholarly journals and trade journals.

Periodical articles are not listed in InvestiGator, the online catalog, so you need to use subject indexes to locate them. Periodical indexes are published in different formats: print, CD-ROM, online (Internet). The print indexes are shelved in alphabetical order by title in the Reference Indexes and Abstracts Area. The online indexes/databases are searchable on any computer with Internet access in the Library or on campus or via remote access. Periodical indexes also cover different types of periodicals (popular, scholarly, trade) and different subject areas related to broadcasting.

Depending on your topic, you may want to use other indexes as well as periodical indexes. Indexes to the following types of sources are also available:

Many indexes include abstracts (summaries) of the sources they index. These indexes are frequently referred to as abstracts. Many index databases also include the full text of some, or most, of the sources they index.

For advice about which indexes are most appropriate for your particular topic, ask at the Library's Research Assistance Reference Desk. Also browse through the list of indexes described on the Broadcasting bibliography/research guide and use the Find a Database page on the Library's Web site under "Find… Articles & Databases."

To find out which periodical index indexes a particular periodical (for example, Journalism And Mass Communication Quarterly), look the periodical up in Ulrich's. Ulrich's database will tell you which periodical indexes index the periodical. You will also want to look up the periodical in the Library's Electronic Journal List (http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/sfsu/a-z/default) and CUFTS (http://lib-cufts.lib.sfu.ca/CUFTS/sbt.cgi) for additional suggestions as to where the periodical is indexed and whether full text is available in one of the Library's databases.

Locating the Periodical Articles You've Found

Indexes and abstracts tell you the name, volume number and/or date of the periodical containing the articles they index/abstract. You can look up these names by title in InvestiGator. InvestiGator will tell you the format (current paper, bound, microfilm, microfiche) of the periodicals which you will find on the 2nd floor arranged in alphabetical order by title. Sometimes InvestiGator will lead you to the periodical in online format. You will also want to look up the periodical in the Library's Electronic Journal List (http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/sfsu/a-z/default) to see if electronic full text is available in one of the Library databases. You can also try using the Citation Lookup Tool (http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/sfsu/cgi/core/citation-linker.cgi).

Searching Electronic Indexes

Many indexes are now published in electronic rather than print form. To search these electronic indexes (databases), in most cases, you need to learn a few basic principles.

When you type in your subject on most databases you need to put connecting words (called BOOLEAN connectors) between the key or significant words or phrases that describe your topic. Almost all databases use the connector AND (to search for articles including both words or phrases) and OR (to search for articles containing either word or phrase). A few other Boolean connectors are often used.

Most databases also have a truncation symbol that enables you to quickly search for words beginning with the same root.

Most databases have a way of indicating what part (field) of the record (information provided about the article) you wish to search. So, you can usually specify that you want to search for a name as author, a word or phrase as a subject or a keyword in a title.

In most databases, if you type in a complex search, it is necessary to use parentheses to tell the computer the order in which you would like the search to be conducted. Those of you who have taken algebra will remember that if you have a complex equation, you need to use parentheses to indicate which part of the equation should be solved first: the same principle applies here. This approach is often called nesting.

With these basic features in mind, you are now ready to approach any database and make use of its help screens or any print instructions that exist for that database. If you feel you need more information about the basic principles behind database searching, you might want to refer to the Library's research guide on "Effective Computer Searching" or Chapter 3 of the Library Information Competence Tutorial, OASIS.

Communication & Mass Media Complete

Let's search the Communication & Mass Media Complete database as an example. Communication & Mass Media Complete indexes and abstracts articles in scholarly journals and trade journals in the fields of communication and mass media; it also indexes chapters in books. For some of the journal articles full text is available.

With any database it is a good idea to think about how many different concepts make up your topic, draw columns representing the number of concepts, and in each column list the alternative words that describe your topic. If the database has a list of subject headings (comparable to the Library of Congress Subject Headings for InvestiGator and sometimes called a Thesaurus), consult it as you are making your list. For example, if you click on the Thesaurus tab in Communication & Mass Media Complete, you can use this option to pull up a list of all the subject headings that include the keyword or words you type in or to find cross references from the word(s) you type in to the correct subject headings (including scope notes).

Let's select the Advanced Search option and type in the search strategy we developed earlier using boolean connectors, truncation symbols, field searching and nesting.

Locating Sources Once You Know about Them

Often you will have a list (bibliography) of useful things that have been written about a topic of interest to you. You then need to locate these sources. If the source (reference) is a book, look it up by title in InvestiGator. If the source is a chapter in a book, look up the title of the book in InvestiGator. If the reference is to a journal article or a magazine article, look up the title of the journal (periodical) in InvestiGator. InvestiGator will tell you the format (current paper, bound, microfilm, microfiche) of the journal (periodical) which you will find on the 2nd floor arranged in alphabetical order by title. Sometimes InvestiGator will lead you to the periodical in online format. You should also look up the periodical title in the Library's Electronic Journal List (http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/sfsu/a-z/default) to see if electronic full text is available in one of the Library databases. You can also try using the Citation Lookup Tool (http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/sfsu/cgi/core/citation-linker.cgi). If the source is a Doctoral (PhD) dissertation or a Master's thesis written at another university after 1995 or so, look it up by title keyword in the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database.

Borrowing Items from Other Libraries

If a book is not in the Library's collection or not "available," you may be able to request it through Link+ (http://opac.sfsu.edu/screens/linkplus.html), an online catalog for a number of California academic and public libraries.

If our library does not own the periodical, book or other publication you need, you may request that Document Delivery Services obtain a photocopy of the article or borrow the book from another library. Subsidized self-service document delivery for selected articles not in the Library is available through the IngentaConnect database. Or, if you are in more of a hurry, you can check local online catalogs such as MELVYL (UC), Pathfinder (UCB) and the San Francisco Public Library online catalog to see which nearby library has the publication you are looking for.

AK 6/25/08

J. Paul Leonard Library