Reference books give you a general overview of a person or topic. They can be a good starting point, since many of the entries are written by leading scholars in the field, and entries often include bibliographies.

Samples:

• Reference Universe Electronic Index to reference works.
• Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies / DEN Ref P87.5 .W38 2006
  
• Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications / DEN Ref P 87.5 E532 2003
• Encyclopedia of New Media: An Essential Reference to Communication and Technology / DEN Ref Q A76 .575 .E5368 2003
• Encyclopedia of Propaganda / DEN Ref HM 263 .E53 1998
  
• From Talking Drums to the Internet: An Encyclopedia of Communications Technology / DEN Ref P96 .T42 G374 1997 or Connect to this title online
• History of the Mass Media in the United States: An Encyclopedia / DEN Ref P92 .U5 H55 1998
• Censorship: A World Encyclopedia / DEN Ref Z657 .C393 2001

Radio Repair Room at Heart Mountain National Archives - ARC 539211

1. Use the OhioLINK Central Catalog in one of the following ways:
   
   
   Subject Search
   • A specific topic (ex. "Organizational Communication")
   • A broad topic (ex. Law--United States or mass media)
   • A person's name (ex. Cronkite, Walter)
   • A corporation's name (ex. National Broadcasting Company)
   • An agency name (ex. FCC)
     
   
   Keyword Search Options
   • AND (fewer results)
   • OR (expanded results)
   • NOT (eliminates words)
   • * truncation symbol
   • "quotation marks" to search a phrase
   • (parentheses) to make one portion of search string function first
   • Use the "Modify Search" button to weed materials you don't want.


2. Check the OhioLINK Catalog record to see if there is a copy available in CONSORT.
   • If there IS a copy in CONSORT, use the CONSORT Catalog to find a local copy. (You may have to have the book sent to you from OWU, WOO, or KEN.)
     
   
   
   • If there is NO copy in CONSORT, request the book within the OhioLINK Catalog by clicking "Request This Item." You will be prompted for your location. Enter "CONSORT Colleges." Then, enter your name and ID. Finally, choose "Denison University" as your pickup location.

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Databases help you find relevant articles from journals and magazines. After you find a good article, use the CONSORT Catalog to obtain the journal issue (if the article is not in full text online). If Denison does not own the journal issue you need, simply place an Interlibrary loan request.

Communications Databases:

• ComAbstracts:
  Contains abstracts of articles and books published in the primary professional literature of the communication(s) field.
• Communication & Mass Media Complete:
  Search for articles from scholarly and trade publications in the areas of broadcasting, communication, and media studies. Some full text. 

          Highly Recommended

• Web of Knowledge
  ISI Citation Databases are multidisciplinary databases of bibliographic information gathered from thousands of scholarly journals. It is indexed so that you can search for specific articles by subject, author, journal, and/or author address. Because the information stored about each article includes the article's cited reference list (often called its bibliography), you can also search the databases for articles that cite a known author or work.

• Academic Search Complete:
  A general, all-purpose database, providing access to articles from journals, magazines & newspapers. Lots of full text.
• America History and Life
  America: History and Life is a comprehensive bibliography of articles on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
• American Broadsides and Ephemera
  Fully searchable facsimile images of more than 29,000 broadsides and pieces of ephemera printed between 1760 and 1900.
• American Memory
  American Memory provides access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. Provided through the Library of Congress, it is a digital record of American history and creativity.
• Congressional Universe (LexisNexis)
  Search an index of congressional publications from 1970 to the present, retrieve histories for laws going back to 1970, find testimony from congressional hearings, and more.
• Digital Media Center
  Audio, video and image collections provided through OhioLINK.
• Duke University Digital Collections
  The Digital Collections are browsable by subject category, including: Advertising and Consumer Culture; African American History; Art, Literature and Music; Documentar Photography; Transcultural Experience; and Women's History.
• EconLIT:
  Provides citation & abstract for over 400 major journals in the field of economics.
• Ethnic Newswatch
  Full-text collection of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press.
• GenderWatch
  An index to publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas.
• International Political Science Abstracts
  Index and abstracts of articles from political science journals.
  
• Kent State Shootings Oral Histories
  A collection of oral histories related to the May 4, 1970 shootings of Vietnam War protesters at Kent State University. The oral histories include many eyewitness accounts of the event and its aftermath.
• Legal Collection:
  A collection of respected, scholarly peer-reviewed publications including law journals, documents, and case studies offering full text for nearly 250 of the world's most respected, scholarly law journals.
• Living Room Candidate
  Web site of the Museum of the Moving Image that features more than 300 presidential campaign commercials, dating back to the 1950's.
• PsycINFO:
  Citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, and more in the field of psychology and related disciplines, from 1967 - 2005.
• Sociological Abstracts:
  Search articles in over 2,600 sociology journals published between 1963 - 2005.
  
• SocIndex
  "Sociological Index Database is a primary resource for accessing the latest research sponsored in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences."
• Sociological Collection:
  Another sociology database.
• Worldwide Political Science Abstracts:
  Provides citations and abstracts of the international literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration/policy. 1975-2006.