Communication Research

Developing a Search Strategy

• Look at our dictionaries and encyclopedias located in the reference collection for definitions of terms related to your topic and for general background information.
• Search our databases and journal collection to find recent articles on your topic.
• Search the Library Resource Catalog for resources relating to your topic.
• Search the World Wide Web.

Reference Collection

The reference collection is located on the main floor of the library. Some useful resources include:

• AV Market Place
  Lists products and services for the audio/video industry.
  Call Number: LB1043.A86
• Banned in the Media
  Looks at the history of censorship in the press, movies, radio, and the Internet.
  Call Number: P96.C42.U654 1998
• Burrelle's Media Directory
  State by state directory of contact information for radio and television stations, newspapers, and magazines.
  Call Number: P88.8.B866-.B8663 6 vols.
• Career Opportunities in Television, Cable, Video and Multimedia
  Gives job descriptions for jobs in the communications field.
  Call Number: HE8700.4.R43 1999
• Complete Film Dictionary
  Defines filmmaking terms from the invention of photography to the present.
  Call Number: PN1993.45 K66 1997
• Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920-1960
  Includes people, programs, a chronology of major milestones, and other related topics.
  Call Number: PN1991.2.S57 2000
• Fifty Years of Television
  Provides the storyline, a cast list, producer, air date, running time, network, and other related topics for series and pilots between 1937 and 1988.
  Call Number: PN1992.8.S4 T47 1991
• Historical Dictionary of American Radio
  Contains a chronology of important radio dates and brief descriptions of famous radio figures, types of music, and broadcasting terms.
  Call Number: PN1991.2.H57 2000
• History of the Mass Media in the United States
  Focuses on all aspects of mass media, including legislation, magazines, book publishing, photography, radio, and television.
  Call Number: P92.U5 H55 1998
• The Motion Picture Guide
  Plot summaries and cast information about films produced between 1927-1983 and the present.
  Call Number: PN1993.M4334 1985 to date
• NTC's Mass Media Dictionary
  Dictionary of more than 20,000 terms related to advertising, television, radio, and newspaper production.
  Call Number: P87.5.E45 1990
• Women and American Television : an Encyclopedia
  Provides essays on individuals, television programs, media innovations, and other related topics.
  Call Number: PN1992.8.W65 L69 1999

Journals--print and online

The Newbury College Library provides access to scholarly and popular articles in both print and online format. Magazines, journals, and newspapers are known as periodicals. Search the Library Resource Catalog by Journal Title to determine if the Library subscribes to a particular title.

Full-text articles are accessible by using the Library's databases. Home access requires using a valid Newbury College library card. These databases provide access to full-text articles, abstracts (short summaries of the articles), and extended citations (the title, source, date, issue, and page numbers of the article). Full-text articles may be printed within the Library. To retrieve articles that are only available as abstracts or extended citations, you should first check our Periodical Holdings List to locate the articles in hard copy or request them from Interlibrary Loan--see the Reference Librarian for help. The following databases are useful for researching communication-related topics:

• Communication & Mass Media Complete
  Provides complete indexing and abstracting for the core journals in the field, and also includes full text for over 300 journals, a communication thesaurus, and author profiles.
• Expanded Academic Index ASAP
  Provides full text articles from general, special, and academic periodicals, including topics in mass media.
• Lexis-Nexis Academic
  Provides full-text articles from international, national, and local magazines and newspapers. Also includes company, health, and legal information.

Library Resource Catalog

• If you are searching for resources within the Library, the catalog displays its items first. You can also choose to search all Minuteman libraries at once or specify another location.
• You may search for resources by Location, Keyword, Author, Title, Journal Title, Format or Subject Heading.
• The item record displays where a resource is located along with its call number and availability.
• The call number identifies where a book or other library resource is located in the library. The Newbury College Library uses the Library of Congress (LC) Classification System, which is comprised of 21 categories with numerous subdivisions under each category. Browse the following subdivisions for relevant information:

Read a call number line by line:

Web Sites