Sources: Elections & the Media

A selection of recent books in the BC Libraries about elections and the media. Click on a cover for more info or click here for a wider list of books on this topic.

Technical Problems with E-Journals

Technical problems are sporadically blocking our access to electronic journals. If you try to locate an article via FindIt or to look up an electronic journal via the E-Journal page or Quest, it may not work.

Our systems staff is hard at work trying to fix the problem, but if you are trying to find an article or journal and run into error messages, let me know. There may be some workarounds, and I will do my best to find them while the problem persists.

- Ken

Holmes One Search

The BC Libraries have introduced a new way of searching the libraries’ collections of books, videos, DVDs, and other sources. It’s called Holmes One Search and it’s linked to from the Libraries home page. (You can also go there directly at http://www.bc.edu/holmes.)

Here are some of the advantages of searching the Libraries’ catalogs via Holmes:

• Spell-checking your search terms (Did you mean….?)
• Ranking search results by how well they match your search terms (relevance ranking)
• Ability to narrow your results by topic, author, publication date, library, collection, language, and genre
• Ability to save your results in your personal “e-shelf” or export records to RefWorks, your cell phone, or social networking sites. (You’ll have to sign in with your BC username and password to take advantage of these features.)

Holmes also lets you do quick searches of key communication databases (and those in other disciplines) though not as effectively as using the databases themselves.

Give it a try, and let me know if you have any questions, or send feedback to the BC Libraries via the Send Feedback link in Holmes.

Now Online: The International Encyclopedia of Communication

The International Encyclopedia of Communication is an excellent new source for online overviews of a wide variety of communication topics.

The Encyclopedia provides more than 1,300 articles covering communication theory and philosophy, interpersonal communication, journalism, intercultural and intergroup communication, media effects, strategic communication, public relations and advertising, communication and media law and policy, media systems in the world, and communication and technology.

Get to Know RefWorks

Do you have trouble keeping track of journal articles, books, Web sites, and other resources you've found while doing research? Get to know RefWorks, a Web-based personal database provided by the BC Libraries, and be ready when those papers start piling up.

RefWorks lets you collect and organize citations and access them from any computer with a Web connection. RefWorks will even take your list and generate a bibliography of references, using APA, MLA, or another format that you select.

1. To set up a RefWorks account, go to the BC RefWorks home page at http://www.bc.edu/refworks.
2. Click on "Sign up for an Individual Account" in the User Log In box on the left
3. Follow the instructions for creating an account. Your username and password can be anything you choose.
   

NOTE: You have to be on campus to sign up for RefWorks, but once you create an account you can use it from anywhere.

E-Journals: New Issues

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

• American Journalism Review
• Communication Research
• International Communication Research
• Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
  
• Media, Culture & Society

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

Beyond Google: Key Communication Databases at BC

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.

Research Help from the Communication Librarian

Welcome to the 2008-2009 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 (16 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, use the Live Help box on this or other pages, or drop by my office.
  
• 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.

- Ken