Wednesday, December 06, 2006

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

New issues of the following journals are available online this week:
Click on a title to access the issue. (Login with your BC username and password is required for off-campus access.)

Communication Topics & the Movies

One of the reasons I started CommmTopics was a comment from a faculty member who wanted students to recognize that communication issues are all around them: in their personal lives, for sure, but also in the news and in events and activities in which the communication angle might not be obvious. (Except, perhaps, to someone who's studying communication.)

I was reminded of that recently when two students came to me for research help on topics that happen to be the subject of current movies.

One student was looking at the role of the press in getting Queen Elizabeth to comment publicly on the death of Princess Diana. (Subject of "The Queen.") Another was looking at the Dixie Chicks and how they handled the backlash in reaction to Natalie Maines' comments critical of President Bush. (Subject of the documentary "Shut Up & Sing.")

Both were in Communication Criticism, but the topics could well have been used in Crisis Communication, Mass Communication Theory, or any one of several other Comm courses.

Neither student was studying the movie itself, but I thought these were good examples of how communication issues are all around us.

Can anyone think of other current films with communication angles?

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

The New New Communication Books Page

How can you find out about new communication-related books in the BC Libraries?

The screen shot below shows the new New Communication Books page I've created using a free Web site called LibraryThing.com.



The links on the right of the page are in an automatically generated tag cloud, a set of linked tags that I have assigned to each of the new communication books based on their subject. The tags are in alphabetical order but appear in different font sizes: the larger the font, the more new books there are in that category.

Clicking on a tag takes you to a page in LibraryThing where I have gathered books on that topic that have been added to the BC Libraries since the beginning of the semester. (Clicking on MOST RECENT ADDITIONS show the very newest titles in all categories.)

Once you’re in LibraryThing, there are several kinds of information available about each book, including:
* A link to Amazon.com, including descriptions, excerpts, and any other details that are available.
* Tags that have been applied to the book by me or by others who have included the book in their own LibraryThing collections. (Mine are distinguishable by vertical lines at the beginning and end, i.e. |Journalism and News|.)
* A link (in a box under Member Reviews - the most convenient place I could put it) to the Quest catalog record for the book at BC.
* Any ratings or reviews that LibraryThing users have submitted about the book. (Not many with these academic titles.)
Check it out, and let me know what you think.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Monday, November 20, 2006

Taking Work Home for Thanksgiving? How to Do Research from Afar

(From Books & Bytes in Major Mail)
Are you planning to work on that term paper or project between bites of turkey at the end of this week? Whether you’re traveling near or far – or not at all – you can get access to at least some of the research resources you’ll need when away from campus.

Most online databases – including Communication Abstracts and Communication & Mass Media Complete – are available from off-campus. You’ll have to log in with your username and password (unlike on campus) but otherwise they will work exactly the same as when you are here.

Of course, you won’t be able to use the books, journals, and other physical resources of the BC Libraries if you’re away. But you may be able to find at least some of what you need at a local public library or a nearby academic library. (Some, but not all, college and university libraries allow public access: check with the specific library, if you’re interested, about their access policy.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Organizing Your Research: RefWorks Personal Citation Manager

Are you having trouble keeping track of journal articles, books, Web sites, and other resources you've found while doing research for a paper? Get to know RefWorks, a Web-based personal database provided by the BC Libraries that lets you collect and organize citations and access them from any computer with a Web connection. RefWorks will even generate a bibliography of references, using APA, MLA, or another format that you select.

Key functions of RefWorks include:
  • *Importing references from journal databases such as Communication Abstracts, Communication & Mass Media Complete (CMMC), and others. (Here's how to import from Communication Abstracts and CMMC.)
  • * Direct searching and importing of records from Quest, the BC Libraries Catalog.
  • * Organizing your references into folders according to your topics of interest or for particular assignments or projects.
  • * Inserting references into the body of your research paper (using an add-on called Write-N-Cite).
  • * Generating a formatted references page or bibliography from your imported citations.

To learn how to sign up for a RefWorks account (there is no cost for BC students, faculty, and staff), go to the RefWorks tutorial on the library Web site. This tutorial also explains how to import references – note that the process varies by database – and other features.

Hands-on 30-minute introductions to RefWorks are being offered by library staff this Tuesday at 10 am and Thursday at 4 pm. But if I hear from enough of you, I'll do a special hands-on session just for Comm majors.

Let me know if you're interested.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Communication Abstracts Update

The bi-monthly update of the Communication Abstracts database is now complete, with 340 new journals articles, book chapters, and books. Use the links below to view all of the new entries or to browse them by major topic area:

All New Abstracts

New Abstracts by Topic Area
1. Communication Processes
2. Interpersonal Communication and Relations
3. Economics and Communication
4. Communication, Culture, and Society
5. Education and Communication
6. Health Communication
7. Political Communication
8. Communication, Regulation, and the Law
9. Organizational Communication
10. Public Relations
11. Advertising, Marketing, and Consumer Behavior
12. Mass Media
13. Journalism and News Media
14. Communication and Information Technology
15. Telecommunications
16. Communication Theory and Research

Friday, November 03, 2006

Communication Reference Books Online

A number of communication-related reference works originally published as books have become available electronically via some of the online databases the BC Libraries make available to you.

Among these works are:
The Museum of Broadcast Communication Encyclopedia of Radio
This encyclopedia provides hundreds of entries on many aspects of radio broadcasting, including technical, programming, and other topcis, as well as key shows, organizations, and individuals. The approach is international in scope but the primary focus is on broadcasting in the U.S. with a secondary focus on other major English-speaking countries.
(To search this encyclopedia, go to Communication & Mass Media Complete (CMMC), enter "encyclopedia of radio" in the first search box, and enter a search term in the second box.)

History of the Mass Media in the United States: An Encyclopedia
Articles in this 1998 reference work look at technological, legal, legislative, economic, and political developments in and affected by the media from the introduction of the first newspaper in Boston in 1690 until about 1990.
(To search this encyclopedia, go to Communication & Mass Media Complete (CMMC), enter "history of the mass media in the united states" in the first search box, and enter a search term in the second box.)

Encyclopedia of Television News
This 1999 encyclopedia includes more than 300 entries on "the people who built broadcast journalism, the programs for which they are best known, and the concepts and issues evolving from their efforts." Available as an e-book through BC's NetLibrary subscription.

Violence and the Media: A Reference Handbook
This 1996 handbook includes an overview of the debate over violence in the mass media; a chronology; biographies of important figures from the fields of communication, psychology, sociology and other disciplines; and a collection of relevant documents, including laws, regulations, court decisions, industry standards, and policy statements related to violence and the media.

International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences
This comprehensive online reference work covers the current state of the social and behavioral sciences with an international scope. It consists of 3,842 signed scholarly articles, most with abstracts, references, and cross references. Select the category "Media" from the encyclopedia's main page for the largest group of communication-related articles, divided into six major sub-categories, or search on the word "Communication" for links to articles thoughout the encyclopedia.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Flags of Our Fathers & the Making of an Icon

The raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima -- subject of the new Clint Eastwood movie "Flags of Our Fathers" -- has frequently drawn the attention of scholars looking at the emergence and use of this image as an icon of America and American values.

I wrote about the photo last August after the death of Joe Rosenthal, the Associated Press photographer who took the original picture. With the release of the movie, I thought it was worth pointing to again.

Here's my original post, including links to scholarly looks at the subject in communication journals, books, and other sources.

Monday, October 30, 2006

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

New issues of the following journals are available online this week:
Click on a title to access the issue. (Login with your BC username and password is required for off-campus access.)

Customized Help with Your Papers and Projects

(From Books & Bytes in Major Mail)
Many of you have attended library instruction sessions for one or more of your Communication courses. These sessions are designed to point out key resources and the best ways to use them. But when it's time to work on your own paper, project, or presentation, you may have more specific questions relating to your research.

It may be a question of which of the many available resources will be most useful for your topic. Or what terms to use when the ones you've tried don't seem to be bringing up anything useful. Or how to narrow your search because you're finding too much.

That's where individual research consultations can help. The amount of information available to you can be overwhelming, but you don't have to tackle it alone. I'm here to help. Drop me an e-mail or give me a call, and we'll set up a time to meet. If you're in the Library, feel free to drop in and see if I'm available. (My office, O’Neill 313, is on the main floor, along the back wall, near the atlas cases.)

One tip: if contacting me by e-mail or leaving a voice mail, include as much detail about your project as possible. That way, I can do some preliminary digging before we meet and quickly get you pointed in the right direction and on the road to productive research.

Monday, October 23, 2006

TV Commercials in Vanderbilt Television News Archive

(From Books & Bytes in Major Mail)
Some of you may know the database Vanderbilt Television News Archive as a source for streaming video of CNN news broadcasts back to the mid-1990s. But did you know that you can also use this source to get video of TV commercials -- at least those that were shown on CNN -- from the last 10 years?

Here's a page with links to some examples.

The commercials in these examples, and others, can be valuable in advertising, rhetoric, mass media, and other classes that look at the use, role, and impact of advertising in American society.

To find more, go to Vanderbilt Television News Archive (you can also select it from the Online Databases page). Then:

  1. Click on the Enter TV News Search button
  2. Go to Advanced Search
  3. Change the All Networks drop-down menu to CNN Only
  4. Uncheck the News Content box
  5. Enter the name of a company or product and hit Search.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

New issues of the following journals are available online this week:
Click on a title to access the issue. (Login with your BC username and password is required for off-campus access.)

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

New Communication Books at BC

The October edition of New Communication Books in the BC Libraries is now online.

This edition features 20 books added to the collection in recent weeks, including titles in such areas as: Globalization & Communication; Advertising & Public Relations; Communication & Culture; and others.

Follow the links on the New Books page to view the catalog records for each of these titles and see if they are available. Links to past editions of New Communication Books are at the bottom of the page.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Electronic Journals and Online Databases: What's the Difference?

(From Books & Bytes in Major Mail)
Are "Electronic Journals" the same as "Online Databases"? No, they're not, and students often click on one of these from the library's home page when they should use the other.

The "Electronic Journals" link lets you look up a particular journal to see if BC offers electronic access to the publication. This is useful if you have identified a specific article and know where it appeared. You can also use Electronic Journals to browse a particular publication online or to search for articles in that publication -- and that publication only.

The "Online Databases" link, on the other hand, will take you to a list of databases (Communication Abstracts, PsycINFO, Business Source Complete, etc.), that allow you to search hundreds or even thousands of publications all at once.

Use the Electronic Journals link, then, when you know an article appeared in a particular journal and want to see if we have it electronically. (If not, check Quest to see if we have it in print.) Use Online Databases to find the right database or databases to search for articles from many publications that will be useful in your research. And, as always, let me or one of the librarians at the Reference Desk know if you need help.

World of Warcraft

Are there any World of Warcraft players out there?

The latest issue (volume 1, number 4) of the journal Games & Culture is devoted entirely to this popular massively multiplayer online game (MMO) which has more than six million individual player accounts worldwide.

Why devote a whole issue of a scholarly journal to a single game? As guest editors Tanya Krzywinska and Henry Lowood say in the introduction to the issue:
"Unlike many other digital games that are played alone or in small groups, World of Warcraft puts players into a vibrant and busy social world and an equally engaging set of culturally conditioned practices."
It's a mixture of game, virtual world, and online community, they say, and the authors in this issue show
"....that participation in such synthetic worlds is an important phenomenon in contemporary popular culture and aspects of that participation put certain established assumptions, categories, and concepts about “virtual” as well as “real life” under pressure."
What do you think? DoWorld of Warcraft and other online games have something to tell us about the way we communicate?

You can read this latest issue or check out the contents of all issues of Games & Culture, one of the latest editions to BC's collection of communication journals online.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

New issues of the following journals are available online this week:
Click on a title to access the issue. (Login with your BC username and password is required for off-campus access.)

Unlocking the Library

(From Books & Bytes in Major Mail)
How can you make the most of the services and sources the BC Libraries make available to you?

A series of hands-on 30-minute information sessions -- designed to fit into your busy schedules -- is set to go on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays throughout this semester.

Different sessions in the "Unlocking the Library" series will cover such topics as:
  • Bibliographies Made Easy with RefWorks
  • Beginning Research in the Libraries
  • Intro to Quest, the BC Libraries Catalog
  • Finding Newspapers, Online and Off
  • Making Use of the Media Collection
Read more about Unlocking the Libraries in The Heights at , and check out the schedule of upcoming sessions.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Look Behind the Book Cover in Quest

(From Books & Bytes in Major Mail)
You may notice book cover images showing up when you look at records in Quest, the BC Libraries catalog. This is more than just a way of livening up a dull screen (though it does that, too.)

Click on one of these covers, and you'll get more information about the book including (depending on the book) such things as tables of contents, summaries, information about the authors, and book reviews. Search Quest for the book "Widening the Family Circle" to see what I mean, or keep an eye out for it as you use Quest in the course of your research.

This Quest enhancement is a test. The Libraries are trying software that dynamically makes this additional information available, helping you decide if a book looks promising before you go the stacks to get it. The information provided will vary from title to title, and some titles will have no enhancement services available at all.

Take a look and let the library staff know what you think. There is a short, four-question survey linked to just below the search box on the main page of Quest at http://library.bc.edu/quest.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Finding Newspapers at BC:
Past & Present, Online & Off

Did you know that you have free access to hundreds of newspapers via the BC Libraries, from as recent as today and, in some cases, as far back as 200 years ago? Learn how to find papers – including many you can’t get on the Web -- in print, via online databases, and in other ways at a 30 minute session this Thursday, September 28th, at 4 pm in O'Neill 105.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

New issues of the following journals are available online this week:
Click on a title to access the issue. (Login with your BC username and password is required for off-campus access.)

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Web Site Spotlight:
Presidential Rhetoric



Presidential Rhetoric at the American Presidency Project

The American Presidency project at the University of California - Santa Barbara has brought together an impressive collection of presidential rhetoric -- from George Washington to George Bush -- as part of this site focused on the study of the presidency.

The document archive includes:
  • * Every presidential inaugural address from 1789 to 2005

  • * Annual State of the Union messages to Congress from 1790 to 2006. (Until Woodrow Wilson -- and in some cases since -- these were written documents, rather than oral addresses delivered on Capitol Hill.)

  • * Weekly Saturday radio addresses of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, plus a selection of Franklin Roosevelt's "Fireside Chats."

  • * Transcripts of Presidential news conferences as far back as Herbert Hoover

  • * Presidential nomination acceptance speeches back to 1932 for the Democrats and 1956 for the Republicans

  • * Transcripts of Presidential debates back to 1960

In addition to transcripts, the site includes a considerable amount of audio and some video. (See the Audio/Video Archive for a full list of what is available. The earliest recordings on the site are from Herbert Hoover.)

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Tools You Can Use: "Find It" - From Citation to Source

(From Books & Bytes in Major Mail)

As you make your way through databases in communication and other disciplines, you will sometimes see a button with the words “Find It” next to the title of a journal article or book chapter. Don't overlook it; it is one of the most valuable tools you can use doing research at BC.

Integrated by the BC Libraries into many databases, "Find It" takes you outside the database you are in to other resources at BC and elsewhere. For example:

  • If an article cited in one database is available in full text in another online source, there will be a direct link to the full article.

  • If the journal in which an article appeared is available in hard copy in the BC Libraries, there will be a link to Quest, the BC Library Catalog. Click on that link and then on View Holdings to see where in the libraries you can find the specific issue.

  • If the article is not available electronically or in hard copy at BC, there will be a link to Interlibrary Loan Request, which will bring up a form through which you can request the Libraries to obtain the article for you from outside BC.

Some databases, like Communication Abstracts or PsycINFO, provide abstracts only, without complete articles. Others, like Communication & Mass Media Complete or ATLA Religion Database provide full text for some publications but not for all. "Find It" helps turn these databases and others into gateways to a wider world of resources at BC and beyond

Monday, September 18, 2006

New Communication Books at BC

The September edition of New Communication Books in the BC Libraries is now online.

This edition features 23 books added to the collection in recent weeks, including titles in such areas as: Communication Theory & Research; Rhetoric; Interpersonal Communication; Religion & Communication; and others.

Follow the links on the New Books page to view the catalog records for each of these titles and see if they are available. Links to past editions of New Communication Books are at the bottom of the page.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Beyond Google: Key Communication Databases at BC

(From Books & Bytes in Major Mail)
If you're not familiar with them already, you should get to know Communication Abstracts and Communication & Mass Media Complete (CMMC), two key tools for doing communication research at Boston College.

Communication Abstracts provides abstracts, or summaries, of scholarly communication articles going back to 1977. It does not provide the articles themselves, but the FindIt button that appears with every abstract can lead you to the full text of the article in another database, in the library's print collection, or, via Interlibrary Loan, from another library.

Communication & Mass Media Complete (CMMC) indexes articles from academic journals as well as professional and trade magazines in the communication field. Complete articles are available in CMMC from approximately 200 of the 500 publications it covers. (FindIt links are available for others.)

These communication databases are by no means the only online resources for communication research. But they should definitely be on your radar as communication students.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

New issues of the following journals are available online this week:
Click on a title to access the issue. (Login with your BC username and password is required for off-campus access.)

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Web Site Spotlight:
She Made It



She Made It: Women Creating Television and Radio

What impact have women made in the broadcasting industry?

This well-presented and content-rich Web site, part of a multiyear initiative from the Museum of Television & Radio, offers an in depth look at the achievements and legacy of 50 women writers, directors, producers, journalists, sportscasters, and executives, past and present, in broadcasting.

In addition to lengthy profiles of each of the women, there are brief audio and video clips for many of them. See, for instance, Lucille Ball talking about her little-known role as director of some of her shows (in an excerpt from a 1985 Museum seminar.) Or listen to a radio broadcast of Dorothy Thompson responding to Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939.

Other women profiled on the site include: Christiane Amanpour; Fanny Brice; Julia Child; Katie Couric; Joan Ganz Cooney; Ellen DeGeneres; Tina Fey; Phyllis George; Terri Gross; Sarah Jessica Parker; Cokie Roberts; Barbara Walters; Oprah Winfrey; and 35 more.

The site also presents video of She Made It panel discussions, including one on the evolution of the family sitcom and another on the women of National Public Radio. There are also online discussion forums (though these, unfortunately, are marred by lots of spam).

For more on the She Made It initiative, including the Web site and the Museum of Television & Radio's growing collection of programming created by women, see the Museum's press release.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Research Support from the Communication Librarian

(From Books & Bytes in Major Mail)
Welcome to the 2006-2007 Academic Year! Many of you know me from years past, but whether we've met or not, I'm here to help with papers, projects, coursework, and making the most of the incredible -- and sometimes bewildering -- array of research resources available to you as a communication student at Boston College.

Here are some of the ways I can help:
  • Classroom Sessions: I'll be visiting many of your classes (about 15 lined up so far) for research instruction sessions specific to the needs of the course.
  • Individual Consultations: I'm available for customized help on research questions large and small. E-mail, call, or drop by my office. (My contact info is on this page.)
  • Books & Bytes in Major Mail: Watch Major Mail each week for news, tips, suggestions, and ideas about communication information resources available to you. [Books & Bytes infotips will be archived here on CommTopics.]
  • CommTopics: The BC Communication Studies Blog: CommTopics highlights and reviews important, useful, or just plain interesting databases, books, Web sites, journal issues, and communication-related stories in the news.
  • My Home Page: Visit my home page for links to key databases, course support pages, research guides, an RSS feed of new items from CommTopics, and more.

I look forward to working with you. Let me know how I can help.

Monday, August 28, 2006

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

New issues of the following journals are available online this week:
Click on a title to access the issue. (Login with your BC username and password is required for off-campus access.)

Monday, August 21, 2006

The Making of an Icon:
The Iwo Jima Photograph

Joe Rosenthal, whose World War II picture of the flag-raising at Iwo Jima became one of the most iconic photographs of all time, died yesterday in San Francisco at the age of 94.

Rosenthal's AP photo showed five marines and a Navy corpsman raising the flag on Mount Surabachi after the peak had been captured by the Marines in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. (The same scene was captured on film by Marine cameraman Bill Genaust, who was killed on Iwo Jima nine days later.)

It's been called "the most memorable image of American participation in [WWII]," "the single most reproduced photo ever," and "probably the most famous American photograph ever produced."

The image appeared in newspapers around the U.S. within days of the event. It was turned into a War Bond poster, a postage stamp, and, most famously, the giant statue of the Marine Corps War Memorial near Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

It was even echoed -- if a picture can be echoed -- in another iconic photo, that of three firefighters raising an American flag over the ruins of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. (That photo, too, has been turned into a statue.)

Scholars and others have had much to say about the flag-raising photo and its emergence and use as an icon of America and American values. The following are just a few examples:

Thursday, August 17, 2006

New Communication Books at BC

The August edition of New Communication Books in the BC Libraries is now online.

This edition features 22 books added to the collection in recent weeks, including titles in such areas as: Advertising & Public Relations; New Media; Political Communication; and others.

Follow the links on the New Books page to view the catalog records for each of these titles and see if they are available. Links to past editions of New Communication Books are at the bottom of the page.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

New Communication Books at BC

The May edition of New Communication Books in the BC Libraries is now online.

This edition features 33 books added to the collection in recent weeks, including titles in such areas as: Interpersonal Communication; Journalism & News Media; Television & Radio; and others.

Follow the links on the New Books page to view the catalog records for each of these titles and see if they are available. Links to past editions of New Communication Books are at the bottom of the page.

Monday, April 24, 2006

What to Wear to a Non-Protest

Washington Post fashion editor (and 2006 Pulitzer Prize winner) Robin Givhan had an interesting take, from a communication perspective, on the organized effort of gay and lesbian families to make their presence felt at the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn last week.

Although criticized by some for politicizing an event that has taken place annually at the White House since the Rutherford B. Hayes administration, organizers said their actions were not a protest, but a chance "to give our fellow citizens the opportunity to see us as real families, participating in a great American tradition..."

That effort, wrote Givhan, put the gay and lesbian participants "in the difficult position of wanting to underscore the averageness of their families, while simultaneously and quietly identifying themselves as a group that is different."

Their solution, she reported, was to reject initial plans to wear t-shirts identifying them as LGBT parents and families and, instead, wear rainbow leis.
A T-shirt [wrote Givhan] is fashion's equivalent of a billboard. They are not subtle or nuanced, boiling a complicated issue down to a few words, a symbol or a slogan. (Silence = Death. A peace sign. Choose Life.) T-shirts are not a tool for dialogue or diplomacy. They are not a gentle form of persuasion.

Accessories such as necklaces, rubber bracelets or satin ribbons, on the other hand, whisper one's affiliation, mumble something about ideology, politely request support through all the proper channels. Thank you very much. And please, sir, will you hear me out?
The result, according to Givhan, was mixed: "The symbolism of a T-shirt is loud. It's braying. It's in people's faces. Those leis were polite, but they also mumbled the message."

Friday, April 21, 2006

PressDisplay: Same-Day Newspapers from Around the World

PressDisplay, the newest addition to the BC Libraries' collection of online databases, lets you look at more than 250 newspapers from around the world, exactly as they appear in print and on the same day they are published.

PressDisplay includes papers from more than 50 countries and in more than 30 languages, with the current edition and a 60-day archive.

To select a newspaper in PressDisplay, click on the Newspapers tab on the right of the opening screen. You can click to view a list of newspapers from a particular country or, via the drop-down menu, by language or from an A-to-Z list.

After selecting a country (or a language or letter of the alphabet), the screen will show a list of titles in that category in the far left and the front pages of each of those newspapers in the center. Click on a title or a front page to go to that newspaper.

To zoom in on a particular article, click on any part of the text or click on the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the screen. Once you are in an article, you can move around the page by holding down the button on your mouse and moving the mouse up or down, left or right. To zoom back out, double click on the page or click again on the magnifying glass.

Among the papers included in this online service are:
  • Washington Post
  • USA Today
  • Chicago Tribune
  • Los Angeles Times
  • New York Daily News
  • Columbus Dispatch
  • Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
  • Le Figaro (France)
  • La Nacion (Argentina)
  • Irish Times (Ireland)
  • Kathimerini (Greece)
  • Huriyet (Turkey)
  • Asharq Al-Awsat (Saudi Arabia)
  • The East African (Kenya)
  • and many others
A detailed tutorial for PressDisplay will be available on the BC Libraries Web site soon.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

New issues of the following journals are available online this week:
Click on a title to access the issue. (Login with your BC username and password is required for off-campus access.)

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Bloggers Cross the Border

Two announcements about bloggers crossing the borders of the mainstream media caught my eye this week.

One is the launch today of BlogBurst, a blog syndication service that feeds selected blog content to newspaper publishers to incorporate into their online sites or print editions.

The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express, Austin American-Statesman, and the Gannett Co. have signed up for an initial trial with blog content in five topical areas: travel; women's issues; technology & gadgets; food & entertainment; and local news.

Eric Auchard of Reuters reports that BlogBurst staff members review and edit blogs before offering them to participating newspapers. "Everything that flows on to publishers' sites they have the opportunity to bless and to put a unique spin on while giving them the quality levels they are looking for," Dave Panos, CEO of Pluck Corp. (BlogBurst's parent), told Auchard.

In another development, online news aggregator LexisNexis announced it would be adding full text blog content in partnership with Newstext and its Blog on Demand service. The content, licensed, tagged, and routed by Newstext, will cover such categories as art, career, economics, environment, finance, food, health, law, and others, according to the announcement.

Monday, April 10, 2006

New Communication Books at BC

The April edition of New Communication Books in the BC Libraries is now online.

This edition features 39 books added to the collection in recent weeks, including titles in such areas as: Communication Theory & Research; Political Communication; Religion & Communication; and others.

Follow the links on the New Books page to view the catalog records for each of these titles and see if they are available. Links to past editions of New Communication Books are at the bottom of the page.

Friday, March 31, 2006

Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics

The 2nd edition of the Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (2006), new to the O'Neill reference collection, offers many articles of use to communication students.

As the encyclopedia's editor-in-chief notes on the publisher's Web site, the new edition pays major attention to interdisciplinary connections to such fields as anthropology, education, psychology, language acquisition, language pathology, cognitive science, sociology, the law, the media, medicine and computer science.

Two examples of articles communication students might find helpful are provided on the publisher's site:
There are many more, as well, including such topics as: Cultural and Social Dimensions of Spoken Discourse; Political Discourse and Gender; Conversation Analysis; Medical Discourse: Doctor-Patient Communication; Telephone Talk; Media and Marginalized Groups; Sports Broadcasting; and others.

Use the Subject Classification or the Subject Index (both in Volume 14) to find more. The Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics can be found in the reference section on the main level of O'Neill Library. (Call # P29 .E48 2006).

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Spanish-Language Media & the Immigration Demonstrations

The English-language U.S. media -- and their audiences -- may have been surprised by the depth and breadth of this week's demonstrations against proposed immigration legislation. But Spanish-language media outlets had been publicizing and promoting them for weeks, reports the Associated Press.

AP reporter Gillian Flaccus describes some of the many ways Hispanic radio and TV stations in California and across the country brought the immigration issue to their listeners and viewers. (Spanish-Language Media Rally Immigrants, 3/28/2006).

Another article, distributed nationally by the Washington Post, told how normally competitive Spanish-language radio stations in Los Angeles came together to promote the march in that city.

The LA effort included "conference calls that featured disc jockeys from competing stations discussing the immigration bills and the Senate's upcoming debate."

The work of the Spanish-language stations, reports the Post, "was also mirrored by Radio Seoul, the 24-hour Korean-language station in the city, which aired similar spots exhorting this city's 1 million Koreans to take to the streets." (Grass-roots movement of immigrants hopes to sway debate, 3/28/2006).

In Georgia, reported the Atlanta Constitution last week, Spanish-language radio stations helped spur protests against an anti-illegal immigration bill making its way through the state legislature.

The organization leading the protest, Alianza 17 de Marzo de Georgia, or March 17th Alliance of Georgia, is named for the date pastors and Spanish-language media executives met to plan action against the proposed legislation. (Latinos urge day of protest against bill, 3/24/2006)

For more on immigration and the foreign-language media in the U.S., here are some selected sources.
  • Hispanic Media Survey This 2004 report from the Pew Hispanic Center looks at where Latino/Latinas in the United States get their news and how the sources of news influence their views on a wide range of topics. Among the findings: Latino/as who get their news from English-language sources have less favorable views of undocumented immigrants than do those who get their news from Spanish-language sources.
  • Assimilation or Identification? Exploring the Role of the Ethnic Press, by John Hatcher, Syracuse University. This paper from the 2005 conference of the International Communication Association, uses a case study comparison to explore the role of four ethnic and immigrant newspapers in New York City. Among the findings: "ethnic and immigrant newspapers may do more to help define and unify ethnic and immigrant groups than to help them adapt to a new culture, as previous research has suggested." (BC login necessary off campus)
  • Ethnic News Watch. Use this database to see how ethnic newspapers and magazines in the United States have covered immigration policy issues. There are many ways to search. One suggestion: search for "immigration policy"; sort the results by most recent first; then click on newspapers. You'll get articles from such publications as El Diaro La Prensa, Mundo Hispanico, Filipino Reporter, Irish Voice, India Abroad, and many others. (BC login necessary off campus)

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Center on Media and Child Health

A freely available database from the Center on Media and Child Health at Children's Hospital in Boston offers an an added research tool for communication researchers interested in this area of study.

The searchable database opens a window on "the current state of knowledge regarding electronic and print media and effects that they may have, positive or negative, on the physical and mental health of children and adolescents."

It offers a useful supplement to BC-provided resources in this particular area of communication research.

In addition to keyword searching, the database allows you to select research based on age group, type of publication, and research method (content analysis; experimental study; qualitative study; meta-analysis; etc.).

Articles included in the database are based on recommendations from researchers, reference lists, table of contents alerts, and searching of databases (including many that are available at BC.) Each article citation includes a brief synopsis and a more detail research abstract.

Use the Quest and E-Journals links on the BC Libraries' home page to see if a particular article identified in this database is available to you.

Monday, March 20, 2006

I Got Scooped!!!

Can you believe it? One day before my article on the origins of Spring Break was scheduled to appear in the BC Libraries' new undergraduate e-newsletter, the New York Times ran their own piece on the same subject.

But, hey, I think mine's better anyway. Check it out: it's called "Looking Back--Way Back--at Spring Break: The Origins of a Collegiate Rite of Spring," and it's on the front page of the the inaugural issue of ugrads@bc.library.

(And, if you must, see what the Times has to say, too.)

Thursday, March 16, 2006

New Communication Books at BC

The March edition of New Communication Books in the BC Libraries is now online.

This edition features 20 books added to the collection in recent weeks, including titles in such areas as: Communication & Culture; Television & Radio; Visual Communication; and others.

Follow the links on the New Books page to view the catalog records for each of these titles and see if they are available. Links to past editions of New Communication Books are at the bottom of the page.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

"Visual Searching" in CMMC

EBSCO, the provider of Communication & Mass Media Complete (and other databases) has introduced an interesting new way of searching for articles.

It's called "Visual Search" and it displays the results of your search in a colorful map, organized by topic.

The example below shows the results of a search on "dating customs." Each circle represents a topic (i.e. "man-woman relationships," "college students," "online dating, "psychological aspects," etc.) with articles matching the search term.



Within the circles are other circles (representing sub-topics), and squares (representing individual articles). Clicking on one of the squares brings up detailed information about the specific article, including the full text (if available).

I've just given "visual search" my first look. What do you think of this way of searching for and presenting information? Is it more intuitive? More fun? Does it make it easier to find the kind of results you're looking for?

Give it a try -- just click on the "Visual Search" tab at the top of the screen in Communication & Mass Media Complete -- and let me know by adding a comment at the end of this posting or by sending me an e-mail.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Would You Buy a New Car from this Frog?

Have you seen the ads featuring Kermit ("I Guess It Is Easy Being Green") the Frog promoting Ford's hybrid SUV the Escape? It made its debut as a 30-second TV commercial during the Super Bowl, and it's been tough to avoid ever since.

Just the other day, I ran into the ads three times (in three formats): while watching the Olympics on TV, turning the pages of the New Yorker magazine, and browsing Yahoo! News on the Web.

This is not the first time Kermit and his Muppet friends have been used in an advertising campaign. And it's hardly the first example of so-called "green advertising."

But it may be the first time a big "star" has been used to sell consumers on the environment-friendly features of as big-ticket an item as an automobile, let alone one as environmentally frowned upon on as an SUV.

Who is it aimed it? Will it work? How does it differ from other green advertising campaigns? How will consumers respond?

The following list shows some of the ways scholars have looked at green advertising during the last two decades. With Kermit now leading the charge, is it time for another look?

Banerjee, S., & Gulas, C. S. (1995). Shades of green: A multidimensional analysis of environmental advertising. Journal of Advertising, 24(2), 21.

Carlson, L., Grove, S. J., Laczniak, R. N., & Kangun, N. (1996). Does environmental advertising reflect integrated marketing communications?: An empirical investigation. Journal of Business Research, 37(3), 225-232. O’Neill Stacks HF5001 .J14

Iyer, E., & Banerjee, B. (1993). Anatomy of green advertising. Advances in Consumer Research, 20(1), 494-501.

Kilbourne, W. E. (2004). Sustainable communication and the dominant social paradigm: Can they be integrated? Marketing Theory, 4(3), 187-208.

Kilbourne, W. E. (1995). Green advertising: Salvation or oxymoron? Journal of Advertising, 24(2), 7.

Manrai, L. A., Manrai, A. K., Lascu, D., & Ryans, J. K. (1997). How green-claim strength and country disposition affect product evaluation and company image. Psychology & Marketing, 14(5), 511-537.

Nakajima, N. (2001). Green advertising and green public relations as integration propaganda. Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 21(5), 334-348.

Roberts, J. A. (1996). Green consumers in the 1990s: Profile and implications for advertising. Journal of Business Research, 36(3), 217-231. O’Neill Stacks HF5001 .J14

Stafford, M. R., Stafford, T. F., & Chowdhury, J. (1996). Predispositions toward green issues: The potential efficacy of advertising appeals. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 18(1), 67.

Zinkhan, G. M., & Carlson, L. (1995). Green advertising and the reluctant consumer. Journal of Advertising, 24(2), 1.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

New Communication Books at BC

The February edition of New Communication Books in the BC Libraries is now online.

This edition features 15 books added to the collection in recent weeks, including titles in such areas as: Communication Theory & Research; Law & Communication; Television & Radio; and others.

Follow the links on the New Books page to view the catalog records for each of these titles and see if they are available. Links to past editions of New Communication Books are at the bottom of the page.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

New issues of the following journals are available online this week:

Click on a title to access the issue. (Login with your BC username and password is required for off-campus access.)

Friday, February 10, 2006

Islam and the Media: Selected Sources

Parody vs. provocation. Freedom of the press vs. religious sensitivities. The Western media vs. Islamic culture. Reaction to cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper has brought these issues to the fore, but they are not new. The following is a selection of books in the BC Libraries on the media and its role in tensions between Islam and the West.

For more on these and other books, see Islam, Arabs, the Middle East and the Media: A Review of Recent Journalism and Broadcast Publications, 1995-2002 in the Spring 2003 issue of Communication Booknotes Quarterly.

Islam and the West in the Mass Media: Fragmented Images in a Globalizing World
Edited by Kai Hafez. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2000. O'Neill Stacks P96.I84 I83 2000
"The so-called 'clash of civilizations,'" writes editor Hafez in the preface to this book, "often results from a lack of communication rather than from contradicting interests and values." Hafez and other contributing authors, from varied disciplines and perspectives, offer different strategies for "improving the information flow and news coverage between Islam and the West."

Reporting Islam: Media Representations of British Muslims
By Elizabeth Poole. London; New York:I.B. Tauris, 2002. O'Neill Stacks P96.I84 P66 2002
This three-part study includes: a quantitative analysis of daily coverage of Britain's Muslim population in two British broadsheets; a qualitative study of a single-year's coverage in two broadsheets and two tabloids; and a focus group-based analysis of audience reaction to news coverage. An additional study, added as the book was going to press, looks at coverage in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.

The Miseducation of the West: How Schools and Media Distort Our Understanding of the Islamic World
Edited by Joe L. Kincheloe and Shirley R. Steinberg. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004. O'Neill Stacks LC1090.M49 2004
"After 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq the ways images of Islam have been embedded in the Western and especially the American consciousness become extremely important to everyday life," writes co-editor Kincheloe in the introduction to this book. He and his co-authors look at the educational and media practices "that help construct these ways of seeing."

Islamic Peril: Media and Global Violence
By Karim H. Karim. Montreal ; New York : Black Rose Books, 2000. O'Neill Stacks P96.I84 K37 2000
Karim, a former journalist and a professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University in Ottawa, looks at discourses in the media portraying Western and Muslim societies as irreconcilable enemies. The focus on Islamic extremists in the Western media, he writes, "is not a result of an active media conspiracy against Islam; it can be understood, rather, as the adherence --mostly unconscious -- of a narrow set of meanings."

Covering Islam : How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World
By Edward Said. New York : Pantheon Books, c1981. O'Neill Course Reserve BP52 .S24
Edward Said's 1981 book, along with his Orientalism and other works, provided a foundation from which much of the subsequent analysis of Islam as portayed in the Western media (and Western literature, academia, and other institutions) has taken off. Search Quest for "said, edward" for more by and about the late Palestinian-American author, commentator and professor of literature.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

End of an Era: The Last Western Union Telegram

Before text messaging, before e-mail, before faxes, before the telephone, the telegraph revolutionized the way people communicated with one another over long distances.

This mid-19th century innovation and the network it spawned made it possible for the first time for one person to send their words to another faster -- much faster -- than a physical message could be carried by horse, by boat, or by train.

The telegraph -- "The Victorian Internet" as it was called in a 1999 book of that title -- changed the way personal communication, business, journalism, and many other activities of modern society were conducted.

Telegrams are still in use, especially internationally, but as of last week the Western Union telegram -- practically synonymous with the medium for much of American history -- is no more.

In a quiet announcement on its Web site, the company noted that "Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage."

As reported in an article on LiveScience.com , the usefulness of telegrams has been in a long decline, hastened since the 1980s by cheap long-distance telephone service, faxes, and, more recently, e-mail.

Western Union itself is not going away, reports LiveScience Managing Editor Robert Roy Britt. The company is refocused on money transfers and, in fact, was spun off by its parent company as a separate, publicly-traded firm -- on January 26th, the last day a Western Union telegram could be sent.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

New issues of the following journals are available online this week:

Click on a title to access the issue. (Login with your BC username and password is required for off-campus access.)

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

The World According to Sesame Street

International students: Was Sesame Street -- a staple of American children'’s television for more than 30 years -- a part of your growing up? Perhaps as Plaza Sésamo (Mexico), Alam Simsim (Egypt), Ulitsa Sezam (Russia) or Zhima Jie (China).

The World According to Sesame Street, a new documentary premiering at the Sundance Film Festival this week, looks at the cultural impact of this celebrated program in other parts of the world. (Unlike most American media exports, Sesame Street is adapted to local cultures when it goes abroad.)

The feature-length film profiles the efforts of three producers from the Sesame Street Workshop to bring about local versions of the program in Kosovo, Bangladesh, and South Africa.

"Education is always more than simply alphabets and numbers, and the contradictions inherent in teaching humane values in worlds where AIDS, ethnic genocide, and poverty dominate the landscape make this film a primer on art, media, and intercultural dialogue," writes festival director Geoffrey Gilmore on the Sundance Web site.

Did you watch a local version of Sesame Street as a child, in Latin America, Asia, Africa, Europe, or the Middle East? If you did, or if you have any thoughts on the globalization of this American media icon, post your comments and impressions here.

In the meantime, check out these sources for more on the global phenomenon of Sesame Street:
"G" is for Growing: Thirty Years of Research on Children and Sesame Street
(O'Neill Stacks LC6579.S47 G58 2001)
This collection of research reports on Sesame Street includes a chapter, "The World of Sesame Street Research," on globalization covering the co-production model as well as curriculum and production differences and similarities across cultures.

Sesame Street Around the World
This section of the Sesame Street Web site provides information (in English and the native language) about programs in 10 different countries, with more to come.

Scholarly Article Search
Search for "sesame street" in Communication Abstracts and you'll find articles among the results focusing on programs in Mexico, Brazil, Hungary, and the Netherlands. Try the same search in the educational database ERIC and you'll find even more. (Add the word "foreign" or "international" to your ERIC search to pare down the results).

New Communication Books at BC

The January edition of New Communication Books in the BC Libraries is now online.

This edition features 19 books added to the collection in recent weeks, including titles in such areas as: Advertising & Public Relations; Communication & Culture; Journalism & News Media; Organizational Communication; and others.

Follow the links on the New Books page to view the catalog records for each of these titles and see if they are available. Links to past editions of New Communication Books are at the bottom of the page.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

BC Faculty Papers Online:
ICA Conference 2005

Papers by seven members of the BC Communication Department faculty that were presented at the 2005 conference of the International Communication Association are now available online via Communication & Mass Media Complete (CMMC).

BC faculty, students, and staff can access PDF versions of these papers by clicking on the links below. (If you're off campus, you'll be prompted for your BC username and password; on campus, no log-in is necessary.)

Neurological Correlates of Visual Creativity and Emotional Process. By Anne Marie Barry and Dennis Dake

Self-Disclosure and Relational Closeness in Established Heterosexual Male Friendships. By Jonathan Bowman

Attribution and Interpersonal Control Strategies in Couples Including One Depressed Individual.. By Ashley Duggan

Development Broadcasting and Global Media: Redefining an Old Concept in a New Era.. By Elfriede Fursich and Seema Shrikhande

"A Beard and a Pasty Forehead": Collective Memory of the First Kennedy-Nixon Debate".. By Dale Herbeck and Sara Mehltretter (BC '05)

Talking Smack: Verbal Aggression in Professional Wrestling.. By Rebecca M. Chory-Assad, Ron Tamborini, Paul Skalski, Kenneth Lachlan, and David Westerman

The Impact of Disposition and Motive on Acceptance for Violence: Evidence for Social Comparison Processes?. By Kenneth Lachlan

"...And something new": Same-sex marriage's influence on the understanding of same-sex relationships.. By Pamela Lannutti


These papers are among more than 1,200 from the conference, which was held in New York in May 2005. You can view the complete list of papers in CMMC. (Use the second search box to search among them.)