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Communication Studies 200Research Guide

The Research Basics

Get to the databases: http://www.csulb.edu/library > database by topic> communicationstudiesGet to the Slides : http://csulb.libguides.com/communication

TerminologyCitations Article Title, Author, Journal Title, Volume Number, Issue Number, PageNumber, DateAbstract Summary of article, tells what the article is aboutSFX Links you to the full text of the article if its available

Article Reach allows you to order articles the library doesnt own in two easy steps

Before you get to the computer1. Start with a Research Topic2. Identify keywords & synonyms3. Create search statements using And, Or, W1

AND narrows a search.example: television AND viewing

OR broadens a search.example: viewing OR watching

W1 makes your terms appear together as a phraseexample: reality w1 television

Helpful Search TipsTruncation *Allows you to include all possible word-endings

Theor* looks for theory, theories and theorize

ParenthesisCan be used to greatly expand or restrict a search(internet or online) and social w1 interaction

Tips for Reading Scholarly info Carefully read the abstract and the literature review Pay close attention to the theory applied Read the methodology and look for any possible problems with the methods Look closely at the results and conclusion section

Rhetoric Research

http://www.csulb.edu/libraryhttp://www.csulb.edu/library

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Useful ResourcesCommunication and Mass Media Complete Click on the Scholarly Peer Reviewed option Will format your article citations in APA or MLA

MLA International BibliographyCovers all types of criticism specifically film, literature and rhetoric Uses w to connect terms Click on SFX only if it is a journal article! Click on search CSULB library for books or book chapters

Academic Search CompleteContains citations to popular and scholarly publications in different disciplines Click on scholarly peer reviewed box to get rid of popular stuff Use more like this option If it is a journal article click on SFX Will format your article citations in APA or MLA

COAST the library catalog Only things we have at CSULB Find books, e-books and more! Find out if CSULB owns a particular journal title (not article title!!) sort results by year (most recent first) search for videos, DVDs and audio books

Other Useful Databases > databases by TITLE alphabeticallylisted

Film Literature Index (1976-2001)Movie reviews, Criticism, Interviews with directors etc.

Lexis NexisBook, movie reviews

NewspapersReviews, commentary, editorialWill format your article citations in APA or MLA

Humanities and Social Science IndexScholarly and popular sources for film, literature and musicWill format your article citations in APA or MLA

WebsitesGreat American Speecheshttp://www.pbs.org/greatspeeches/

Research Guide: Speech, Argumentation & Debatehttp://www.csulb.edu/library/subj/commstudies/speeches.html

http://www.csulb.edu/library/subj/commstudies/speeches.htmlhttp://www.csulb.edu/library/subj/commstudies/speeches.html

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Social Sciences

Psycinfo Search tips Use subjects to narrow your search Use publication type, methodology or age group to make your searchsmaller Type the word communication in the journal articles box to eliminatepsychology journals Email using APA format

Communication and Mass Media complete ALWAYS click on the Scholarly Peer Reviewed option Try the more like this option

Review the TWO step process for getting journalarticlesStep ONE Get citations from index Author, title, journal title, volume, page number year

Step TWO If you are using a research database click on the SFX link if it is available If there is no online full text and print is not available in COAST then click on the

ArticleReach link and get the article emailed to you for FREE!!

Citing sourcesOwl Purdue MLA Guide http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/Owl Purdue APA Guide http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

How to Get a Library PasswordGo to Coast https://coast.library.csulb.edu/patroninfo

Type in your name, CSULB I.D. #, and a Password number of your choiceConfirm Password by typing it twice moreIf the screen just shows your name- it worked!

Still Need Help? Tiffini Travis ttravis@csulb.eduTwitter: Csulb_Library Yahoo/MSN IM: csulb_librarian AOL and GoogleTalk:csulblibrarian

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/https://coast.library.csulb.edu/patroninfomailto:ttravis@csulb.eduhttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/https://coast.library.csulb.edu/patroninfomailto:ttravis@csulb.edu

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Worksheet: Identifying Key Words, Synonyms, and Key Phrases

Research question (circle one)

Rhetoric Social Science

Go back and circle the keywords in your research question .

List keyword variables here List synonyms here

1.1.2.

2.1.2.

3.1.2.

4.1.2.

Write 4 search statement variations using library connectors (AND/OR) and proximity/expanders(W1/*)

1.

2.

3.

4.