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Communication Studies Research Guide

Getting ready to search

What are library databases?

  • Library databases are searchable online repositories of information.
  • Database content varies based on subject, discipline, and information type.
  • Library databases are accessible to all currently enrolled ELAC students, 24/7.

Before you begin searching:

  • Review your assignment.
    • Are you required to use magazine articles, news articles, scholarly journal articles? Books? eBooks? Websites?
    • Are you required to use a specific database, like EBSCO, ProQuest, or JSTOR?
  • Jot down a few keywords.
    • Keywords are the main ideas, themes, topics, or subjects of your research topic.
    • You'll need to use keywords (and not sentences) in the databases.

More on keywords:

 

Library databases

Which database(s) should I use?

  • This depends on your specific topic (are you researching a historical topic, educational, social issues, current events?) and your information need (do you need scholarly articles, literary criticisms, news articles?).
  • Watch the video below to learn how to limit our list of databases by subject and resource type:

 

Most popular databases for Comm courses:

OneSearch

OneSearch

  • OneSearch is a mega-search that you can use to search our library's print catalog and online databases at the same time.
  • This can be a good place to start if you want to search multiple databases.
  • If you are having trouble finding relevant results in OneSearch, you may want to search an individual database instead.

OneSearch Tutorial:

Try it yourself: