Harold L. Drimmer Library Research Guides: COMM 101H Understanding Mass Media Prof. Luther: Find Articles in a Database

Tips on Searching Databases

Limit your results to Full-Text so the database only provides you with the full text and not just the citation.
If you want to narrow your results look for suggested subject headings to limit your results to that topic
Before reading the whole text of the article browse the abstract. The abstract is a short summary of the article and will help you decided if the article addresses your topic. Some databases also supply subject terms. These can be useful keywords to search.
Email yourself a copy of the article (there should be an email button near the article) to ensure you have a copy of the article. Any email address will work (it doesn't have to be your WCC email). Emailing the article will also include a citation of the article you can use in your works cited page
Keep in mind the type of source you are look at. Databases commonly provide access to newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals.

Types of Periodicals in Databases

Types of periodicals found in databases along with their characteristics

Newspapers: Written for general readers on a wide variety of topics. Published daily.

Magazines: Also for current topics, written for general readers with no background in the subject. Not as frequently published as newspapers but offer more detail.

Academic Journals: Longer research reports by specialists, written for other specialists. Can be quite technical. (Also called Scholarly / Peer Reviewed / Professional Journals)

Recomended Databases

All Databases (Subject List)

Use the tips under the Search Strategy tab to develop a list of keywords to search. Do not type in whole sentences.

If you are off campus, you will need to log-in using your MyWCC username and password.

Communication & Mass Media Complete
Provides indexing for some 400 periodicals, including full text for over 200 titles, in areas related to communication and mass media.
Film and Television Literature with Full Text
Covers film & television theory, preservation & restoration, screenwriting, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. Provides indexing and abstracts for 370 publications (and selected coverage for over 250), as well as full text for more than 100 journals and nearly 100 books. Includes Variety reviews from 1914 to present and over 36,300 images from the MPTV archive.
Academic Search Complete
A general database covering many areas of academic study. Find articles from over 7,000 full-text periodicals and abstracts from more than 11,000 additional journals.
Opposing Viewpoints In Context
Covers current social issues. Includes viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles.
New York Times, The (1980-present)
Full text from 1980 - present.
Newspaper Source Plus
Cover-to-cover full text for 185 national (U.S.) and international newspapers, including Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Times (London), Toronto Star, etc.
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
Includes 570 full-text journals and 48 books. The database also includes full-text content from relevant magazines and health reports. Coverage is particularly strong in child & adolescent psychology and various areas of counseling.
SocIndex
The world's most comprehensive sociology research database. More than 2,066,400 records with subject headings from a 19,750+ term sociological thesaurus. Also contains informative abstracts for more than 1,200 "core" coverage journals dating as far back as 1895.
America: History and Life with Full Text
Covers the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. With selective indexing for over 1,700 journals from 1955 to present, also provides full-text coverage of more than 230 journals and nearly 100 books.
JSTOR
Archives of over one thousand leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs and other materials valuable for academic work.
Education Source
Authoritative, full-text database for education scholarship, covers topics from early childhood education to parent-teacher relations.

COMM 101H Understanding Mass Media Prof. Luther: Find Articles in a Database

Tips on Searching Databases

Types of Periodicals in Databases

Recomended Databases

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