CommTopics

Putting CommTopics Away

2009-09-07T08:13:00.002-04:00

After three-and-a-half years, I've decided to discontinue the CommTopics blog.

I started it as a way to share information with Communication students and faculty and Boston College. It has included new resources, research tips, and communication-related items in the news. But it never developed a wide readership -- a lesson for me, perhaps, about students' communication habits and the types of information that appeal to them.

I'll continue to post information in my Books & Bytes column in Major Mail, the Communication Department's weekly e-newsletter. I will also maintain and add to the collection of online communication research guides. And, of course, I will continue to be available for individual research help at any time.

Thanks to all those who have followed CommTopics

- Ken.

NEW: E-Books in Communication Studies

2009-04-16T14:03:00.002-04:00

The following communication books are now available as online e-books via the Boston College Libraries.

One BC person at a time can use any one of these books, which the library purchases from an e-book publisher called eBrary. The books can be read online without any special software, but an easy-to-install eBrary Reader plug-in is required to print or cut and paste from the e-books. (On Windows Vista machines, the plug-in works with Internet Explorer only.)

This is a new type of resource for the library. Tell me what you think and please let me know about any problems with using the online books.

Messages with a Mission, Embedded in TV Shows

2009-04-03T13:44:00.003-04:00

The New York Times reports how the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is expanding its efforts as "a behind-the-scenes influencer of public attitudes...helping to shape story lines and insert messages into popular entertainment..." The Foundation, according to the Times, has helped put messages about H.I.V. prevention, surgical safety and the spread of infectious diseases into such shows as “ER,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “Private Practice.”

Now the Gates Foundation is set to expand its involvement and spend more money on influencing popular culture through a deal with Viacom, the parent company of MTV and its sister networks VH1, Nickelodeon and BET. It could be called “message placement”: the social or philanthropic corollary to product placement deals in which marketers pay to feature products in shows and movies. Instead of selling Coca-Cola or G.M. cars, they promote education and healthy living.

Read the full article here.

Social Sciences Quick Search

2009-03-26T16:19:00.003-04:00

A new form added to several online communication research guides lets you search for articles directly from the guide without having to first click on the name of a database.

Using this form – labeled Social Sciences Quick Search –you can enter search terms and look for results at once in several key CSA Illumina databases including Communication Abstracts, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, PAIS, ERIC, and others.

Results, with abstracts, will then appear in the familiar CSA Illumnia interface, including the FindIt button for locating the full articles.
The form also includes a link to the Advanced Search screen, which offers options for more defined and precise searching in this same group of databases.

The new form can be found in the following guides:
Interpersonal Communication
CO 372: Mass Communication Theory
CO 451: Gender Roles & Communication
CO 463: Media & Popular Culture

Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

Online Highlight: Speeches of the American Presidents

2009-03-09T13:13:00.004-04:00

The full texts of 200 major speeches by U.S. presidents, from George Washington through the first inauguration of George W. Bush, are available online for BC researchers through the database Biography Reference Bank Select.

Each speech is prefaced by a description of the date, place and circumstances of its composition and delivery. In addition, the speaking style of each president is described and his use of public address as an instrument of power is evaluated.

Here, for example, is an excerpt from the description of John Adams’ speaking style:

During his years with the Continental Congress, Adams was known, in the words of a col¬league, as a “most sensible and forceful speaker.” Jefferson said of him that he “was not graceful nor eloquent, nor remarkably fluent, but he came out occasionally with a power of thought and expression that moved us from our seats.” Short and stout, often moody and irascible, he did not have the physical presence of a great orator; but so attractive was the display of his intellectual powers that when he spoke, according to another colleague, his listeners “fancied an angel was let down from heaven to illumine the Congress.” By the time of Adams’s election to the presi¬dency, when he was 61, he was afflicted with palsy and had lost most of his teeth, so that he rarely spoke in public.

To acccess a president’s entry, look up the president by name in the database, then click on the hotlinked name. There will be a link along the left side of the screen to the Speeches of the American Presidents pages for that president.

Google Scholar On and Off Campus

2009-02-19T16:05:00.002-05:00

Google Scholar is Google’s way of letting your search for scholarly publications online without bringing up all of the non-academic sources that come up in a regular Google search.

It’s not as refined a search tool as the many databases the BC Libraries make available to you, and it will miss many things that those databases find. But, used in conjunction with – not instead of – these databases, Google Scholar can be one more tool in your communication research toolkit.

It’s especially useful for hard-to-find terms because it searches the full text of many articles. But it can be frustrating when searching for more common terms because there is little distinction between articles that simply mention the term and those that are really about that topic. So use it carefully.

Here is one very important thing to keep in mind:

If you find an article via Google Scholar and click on the title, it may not let you have it without a password, even if BC has a subscription to the publication online or in print. Look for the FindIt@BC link instead to get the article via the Libraries subscription.
If you’re on campus, the FindIt link will appear automatically (if BC subscribes). Off-campus, you have to let Google Scholar know you’re affiliated with BC.

Here’s how:

Click on Scholar Preferences next to the Google Scholar search box.
Enter boston college in the Library Links box and hit the Find Library button.
Check off the box next to “Boston College Libraries - FindIt@BC”
Hit the Save Preferences button at the bottom of the page.

As always, let me know if you have any questions or need help.

NY Times: Why Television Still Shines in a World of Screens

2009-02-12T09:08:00.005-05:00

"SUBSCRIBERS to print newspapers have gone missing, as everyone knows. Book publishers are also wondering where readers have disappeared to.

And yet television stands out as the one old-media business with surprising resilience. Though we are spending a record amount of time online, including a record amount of time watching video, we are also watching record amounts of very old-fashioned television, according to Nielsen Media Research."

Read the full article

New Communication Books in the BC Libraries

2009-02-10T11:40:00.001-05:00

New books on many aspects of communication studies continue to be added to the BC Libraries’ collections all the time. There are a couple of ways to see what has arrived in recent weeks.

An RSS feed on the Libraries website -- http://bc.edu/libraries/materials/rssfeeds/communication.html -- shows recent additions with the newest ones always at the top. Click on any title to go to the full record in Quest, the BC Libraries catalog, for more information.

You can visit this page at any time or, if you use an RSS feed reader like Google Reader, Bloglines, or My Yahoo, you can click on the orange RSS icon to add it to your own page.

For a more categorized list of new communication books, go to http://www2.bc.edu/~lissk/newbooks/. Here you’ll see links to sets of the most recent additions and to books on particular aspects of communication (i.e. Television and Radio, Interpersonal Communication, Rhetoric, Gender and Communication, and more.)

If you want to recommend a communication-related book for the collection, send the info to me in an e-mail or sign in to your account in Quest – there’s a link at the top of the page – and click on Recommend Library Materials. Just be sure to select Communication from the subject list on the recommendation form so that your recommendation gets to me and not to another librarian.

One last note: If you come to O’Neill Library for a new book and don’t find it on the shelf, check out the New Books display area in the lobby. It may be there.

The Newspaper of the Future, circa 1981

2009-01-29T14:12:00.001-05:00

San Francisco KRON report from 1981

TV Series in the Media Center

2009-01-14T12:24:00.004-05:00

The O'Neill Library Media Center's collection of TV series, old and new, on DVD and video continues to grow. New additions in the past few months include:

The Office, Season 4
Lost, Season 4
Psych, Season 1
Get Smart, Season 1
Big Love, Season 2

See Selected TV Series Available in the O'Neill Library Media Center for a fuller list.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2009-01-14T12:14:00.002-05:00

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.)

Student Question Word Cloud

2008-12-11T14:29:00.007-05:00

After reading how Obama’s health care policy team created a word cloud indicating the most frequently used words and phrases in comments they received about health care, I decided to do the same with the questions I received from students via e-mail and Meebo chat this semester. The results can be seen at http://www2.bc.edu/~lissk/wordcloudf08.html . It’s more an impressionistic view of my electronic interactions with comm majors than it is anything useful, but I thought it would be fun to share.

Among my favorite bits: One of the largest words in the cloud – along with find, research, paper, topic, articles, and class – is “wondering.” I hadn’t realized how often students say “I was wondering…”

Then there’s this inadvertent but oh so logical progression from good to bad among the alphabetical list of words and phrases:

good .good articles. .good sources. .good thanksgiving. great .great depression. .hard time. .hard time finding.

Crunch Time: Research Help with Your Papers

2008-12-04T09:35:00.002-05:00

The end of the semester, with paper and project deadlines approaching, is among the busiest time for students – and for me. I’m here to help with your research. Here are tips on different ways to get help.

Set up a time to get together. In person consultations are not always necessary, but 10 or 15 minutes together are often all it takes to jump start your research or get you past a stumbling block. (We can take more time if it’s needed.) E-mail me or contact me via the live help boxes on many of my pages and we’ll find a time that works for both of us. You can also drop in, but I may be out or with another student.
Ask a question online. Many questions can be answered without meeting in person. Send me an e-mail or use the live help boxes on my home page, course pages, and research guides. If I’m online, the live help box lets us chat without IM; if I’m not online, you can leave a message. (Just be sure to tell me who you are and how to get back to you.)
Check out sources and tips on the pages I created for specific courses or for broad communication subject areas. There are links to all of them, and to key databases, on the Communication Research Help by Subject page on the library’s website.

Remember that I have many students coming for help at this time, so be patient if I’m not available at exactly the time that’s best for you. But do let me know if you need help, and I will work with you in whatever way I can.

Taking Work Home for Thanksgiving?

2008-11-25T08:33:00.000-05:00

Are you planning to work on that term paper or project between bites of turkey? Whether you're traveling near or far – or not at all – you can access most Boston College databases and e-journals from off campus. You'll have to sign in with your username and password (unlike on campus), but otherwise they will work exactly the same as when you are here.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2008-11-25T08:28:00.002-05:00

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.)

Drill, Baby, Drill! Drilling Down in Search Results

2008-11-10T11:09:00.009-05:00

How do you narrow down your results when a database search brings up too many hits to browse through? One way – available in more and more databases – is to drill down through the categories of hits listed alongside the results themselves.

These categories (sometimes referred to as facets, clusters, or result groups) can represent different subjects, types of publications, formats, dates, or other aspects of the items that came up when you entered your search terms.

Click on one of them and only those results from your original search that match that category will be shown. The categories can also help you identify other terms to search for, apart from your original terms.

Here are just a few of the databases in which you are able to drill down in this way: Communication & Mass Media Complete; LexisNexis Academic; Holmes One Search; Business Source Complete.

Watching Election Returns, 1968-2004

2008-11-04T11:02:00.014-05:00

If you can't wait to watch the returns from the presidential election tonight, check out the coverage of past elections from NBC and CNN via the Vanderbilt Television News Archive. (BC login required.)

1968 (NBC)

1972 (NBC)

1976 (NBC)

1980 (NBC)

1984 (NBC)

1988 (CNN)

1992 (NBC)

1996 (CNN)

2000 (NBC)

2004 (CNN)

NBC News TV Broadcasts from 1968–Present Now Available Online

2008-11-03T13:40:00.003-05:00

The BC Libraries’ subscription to Vanderbilt Television News Archive (VTNA) now includes streaming video from NBC News from August 5, 1968 to the present.

An arrangement between Vanderbilt and NBC earlier this year made it possible to add clips from NBC to those from CNN (1995-Present) already available to BC users of VTNA.

Available programs include the NBC Evening News, as well as extended television coverage of political conventions, elections, speeches, and major events such as the Watergate hearings, the Vietnam and Gulf Wars, the explosion of the shuttle Challenger, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and more.

Use Advanced Search to limit your searches to NBC and/or CNN – news from other networks is indexed but does not include video – or look for the camera icon in the search results to indicate streaming video. ().

Vanderbilt Television News Archive is available online to BC faculty, students, and staff on or off campus. (Off–campus users will have to log in with their BC username and password.) Videos require the downloadable RealPlayer software for viewing.

Can You Say "BOO!" in APA Format?

2008-10-31T09:21:00.000-04:00

Care to mix a little academic research with your trick-or-treating tonight?

As a Halloween treat -- and a break from the usual research tips -- here's a look at some of the ways scholars have looked at All Hallow's Eve. (All citations have been verified and most are available from the BC Libraries -- if you dare.)

"Reactions of zoo animals to 'disturbing' Halloween masks" (Master's Thesis, University of South Alabama, 2003)
"Influence of Valentine's Day and Halloween on birth timing" (Social Science and Medicine, 2011)
"Unmasking racism: Halloween costuming and engagement of the racial other" (Qualitative Sociology, 2007)
"Size of Halloween witch drawings prior to, on, and after Halloween" (Perceptual Motor Skills, February 1963)
"Assembling processes in a periodic gathering: Halloween in Athens, Ohio" (Sociological Focus, May 1992)
"The pink dragon is female: Halloween costumes and gender markers" (Psychology of Women Quarterly, June 2000)
"Jack O'Lanterns and integrating spheres: Halloween physics" (American Journal of Physics, June 2006)
"Dressing in costume and the use of alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs by college students" (Adolescence, Spring 1993)
"The Halloween Effect and Japanese equity prices: myth or exploitable anomaly?" (Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, December 2003)

So have a good time tonight, but be careful: there may be a scholar lurking behind that bush.

Meebo Me! Live Help Online

2008-10-27T17:40:00.003-04:00

Do you sometimes wish you could get instant help when doing research online?

On many of my Web pages you’ll see a gray “Meebo” box labeled Ask for Help or Get Live Help. If I’m online, it will say “Ken Liss is online.” Type a message in the lower part of the box and hit enter, and I’ll respond.

It could be a quick question or a more complicated research problem. In either case, both ends of our live chat will appear in the upper box.

I’m not always available, but when I am I can answer many research questions this way. (If we need to meet in person we can arrange it right then and there.)

If the box says I’m offline, you can leave me a message without having to send an e-mail, and I’ll get it when I log back in. Just be sure to tell me who you are, how to reach you, and what you need help with. That way I can get back to you with an answer later.

Of course, you can always contact me the old-fashioned way – via e-mail, phone, or dropping by my office. But, whatever the method, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

TV Series in the Media Center

2008-10-16T10:51:00.001-04:00

The O'Neill Library Media Center's collection of TV series, old and new, on DVD and video continues to grow. New additions in the past few months include:

30 Days, Seasons 1 & 2
Degrassi: The Next Generation, Season 1
Dexter, Season 1
The Love Boat, Season 1
Martin, Season 1
Pokemon Indigo League, Season 1
Punky Brewster, Season 1
Tudors, Season 1

We've also added new seasons of several series already in the collection, including The Wire and Nip/Tuck.

Click here for a longer, though not comprehensive, list of available series (new and old).

Interpersonal Communication Research: Search Tips & Strategies

2008-10-16T10:46:00.003-04:00

Are you starting research for a paper on relational or interpersonal communication? Here are some search tips & strategies from the Interpersonal Communication research guide.

Interpersonal communication takes many forms and occurs in many contexts. In beginning your research, plan out what aspects you are interested in.

For example, think about:

Context: communication at work, in school, on a sports team, at a party, at home, etc.
Type of relationship: friendship, family (spouse, sibling, parent-child), romantic relationship, etc.
Form of communication: speech, nonverbal, writing, phone, IM, etc.
Purpose of communication: persuasion, conflict resolution, support, information gathering, etc.
Other influences: race, age, gender, culture, etc.

Be as specific as possible in formulating your search terms, covering all aspects you're interested in, but be sure to use alternative/related terms as well.

Sources: Elections & the Media

2008-09-25T14:09:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-23T14:19:00.004-04:00

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

2008-09-23T12:43:00.004-04:00

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

2008-09-15T14:23:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-09T08:40:00.003-04:00

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.

To set up a RefWorks account, go to the BC RefWorks home page at http://www.bc.edu/refworks.
Click on "Sign up for an Individual Account" in the User Log In box on the left
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

2008-09-03T14:37:00.002-04:00

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.)

Beyond Google: Key Communication Databases at BC

2008-09-03T14:24:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-02T08:42:00.002-04:00

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

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2008-07-31T11:55:00.003-04:00

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.)

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2008-05-20T08:31:00.004-04:00

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.)

A Note of Thanks

2008-05-08T09:12:00.000-04:00

As the academic year comes to an end, I want to offer thanks to all of the students I've had an opportunity to work with on research questions, big and small, throughout the year. The topics you've come up with and the ways in which you've approached them have kept me on my toes and reinforced my sense of how interesting and diverse a discipline this is. I hope you've learned some tools and techniques for communication research -- and information gathering in general -- that you'll carry with you whether you're moving on or coming back for more. Congratulations to all of the graduates, and I'll see the rest of you in the fall.

24-Hour Study Space

2008-05-08T09:10:00.000-04:00

Both the ONeill Library Reserve Reading Room and Gargan Hall in the Bapst Library are open for 24-hour study through the night of Monday, May 12.

2008 Newspaper Ratings Report

2008-05-08T08:34:00.000-04:00

Scarborough Research has released its 2008 report on audience penetration of newspapers in 161 U.S. metropolitan areas.

The Scarbourough Newspaper Audience Ratings Report 2008 provides data on 161 newspapers in 81 markets, including:

the number of adults in the market area (and percentage of the overall adult population) who have "read or looked into" the daily or Sunday edition of the newspaper within the past 5 weekdays or past Sunday;
the number and percentage of area adults who have visited the newspaper's website(s) in the past 7 days; and
the integrated audience -- the number and percentage of area adults who have read
the printed newspaper or visited the newspaper’s website(s), or did both,
during the past seven days.

The report is organized by Designated Market Area (a Nielsen category) and includes newspapers whose websites have at least 1% penetration in their market, as well as a Sunday print edition.

Do citation styles have you confused?

2008-05-01T08:45:00.002-04:00

Are you putting together a list of works cited for a communication research paper and having trouble with citation formats?

There are several places you can turn for help:

* Online guides to APA and MLA from the Writers' Workshop at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.You'll find instructions and examples for the most common types of references and in-text citations -- and for some less common types, as well.

* The APA Style Guide to Electronic References (BC login required)

* Style manuals at the O'Neill Reference Desk. Ask for manuals on APA and MLA (as well as Chicago, Turabian, and others) at the desk. These are the official manuals and can help you figure out the right way to cite common and uncommon resources.

* APA Exposed: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About APA Format but Were Afraid to Ask. Online tutorial prepared by a graduate student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

* RefWorks. If you're already using RefWorks, you probably know about the bibliography tool. If not, it might be a little late to learn everything about RefWorks, but get in touch with me and I can give you some tips on how to make the most of it in a short time.

Finally, don't be afraid to ask for help from me (in any of the usual ways) or from any of the librarians at the Reference Desk.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2008-05-01T08:27:00.000-04:00

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.)

Disney Movies and the Environment

2008-04-23T20:46:00.000-04:00

Communication students (and others) who've examined the portrayal of character types or issues in Disney movies -- always a popular topic for term papers -- might be interested in this New York Times article on a debate over the impact of Disney flicks on environmental awareness and activism: "Animated Bambi Debate Arouses Pastoral Passions."

Crunch Time: Research Help with Your Papers

2008-04-22T14:23:00.002-04:00

The last few weeks of the semester, with paper and project deadlines approaching, are among the busiest for students – and for me. I’m here to help with your research. Here are tips on different ways to get help.

* Set up a time to get together. In person consultations are not always necessary, but 10 or 15 minutes together are often all it takes to jump start your research or get you past a stumbling block. (We can take more time if it’s needed.)
* E-mail me or contact me via the live help boxes on many of my pages and we’ll find a time that works for both of us. You can also drop in, but I may be out or with another student.
* Ask a question online. Many questions can be answered without meeting in person. Send me an e-mail or use the live help boxes on my home page, course pages, and research guides. If I’m online, the live help box lets us chat without IM; if I’m not online, you can leave a message. (Just be sure to tell me who you are and how to get back to you.)
* Check out sources and tips on the pages I created for specific courses or for broad communication subject areas. There are links to all of them, and to key databases, on the Communication Research Help by Subject page on the library’s website.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2008-04-08T08:43:00.000-04:00

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.)

Absolut Mexico

2008-04-07T11:03:00.001-04:00

This story touches on so many issues of interest to communication studies -- advertising, intercultural communication, media and politics, crisis communication, and more -- that I just had to post it here.

Absolut Vodka has apologized for an ad that ran in Mexico with an old map showing the southwest United States as part of Mexico "In an Absolut World."

The ad, according to Fox News, provoked heated comments on Internet blogs and Web sites and a call for a boycott by U.S. consumers.

Here's what Absolut Vice President of Corporate Communications Paula Eriksson had to say on Absolut's own blog:

The In An Absolut World advertising campaign invites consumers to visualize a world that appeals to them -- one they feel may be more idealized or one that may be a bit "fantastic." As such, the campaign will elicit varying opinions and points of view. We have a variety of executions running in countries worldwide, and each is germane to that country and that population.

This particular ad, which ran in Mexico, was based upon historical perspectives and was created with a Mexican sensibility. In no way was this meant to offend or disparage, nor does it advocate an altering of borders, nor does it lend support to any anti-American sentiment, nor does it reflect immigration issues. Instead, it hearkens to a time which the population of Mexico may feel was more ideal.

As a global company, we recognize that people in different parts of the world may lend different perspectives or interpret our ads in a different way than was intended in that market. Obviously, this ad was run in Mexico, and not the US -- that ad might have been very different.

Her post has generated over 1500 comments since Friday. You can view the thread here. (Interestingly, Absolut requires you to fill in a birthdate to access their site.)

Finding Political News Online, the Young Pass It On

2008-03-27T09:40:00.002-04:00

From today's New York Times:

"It is not news that young politically minded viewers are turning to alternative sources like YouTube, Facebook and late-night comedy shows like “The Daily Show.” But that is only the beginning of how they process information.

According to interviews and recent surveys, younger voters tend to be not just consumers of news and current events but conduits as well — sending out e-mailed links and videos to friends and their social networks. And in turn, they rely on friends and online connections for news to come to them. In essence, they are replacing the professional filter — reading The Washington Post, clicking on CNN.com — with a social one."

Read the full article.

State of the News Media 2008

2008-03-25T16:59:00.000-04:00

The Project for Excellence in Journalism has posted its State of the News Media 2008 report online.

The fifth annual report aims "to gather in one place as much data as possible about all the major sectors of journalism, to identify trends, mark key indicators, note areas for further inquiry and provide a resource for citizens, journalists and researchers."

Section of the report cover newspapers; online news; network, cable, and local TV; radio; magazines; and ethnic media. Each section includes content analysis as well as looks at audience, economics, ownership and more.

Direct Export from Quest to RefWorks

2008-03-25T09:23:00.004-04:00

RefWorks users can now export the details of books and other materials found in Quest directly to their RefWorks account. Simply check off the items you want to save, click on Export/Email/Save at the top of the screen, and then select Export Record(s) to RefWorks. You'll be asked to log into your RefWorks account, and once you do the records will be saved there.

As with all records in RefWorks, you can move the Quest items to different folders and use them, along with other bibliographic records you gather, to generate bibliographies in APA, MLA, and other formats.

To learn more about RefWorks, see the RefWorks FAQ.

For instructions on importing records to RefWorks from Communication Abstracts and Communication & Mass Media Complete, see this CommTopics blog post.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2008-02-11T11:13:00.000-05:00

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 Abstracts Update

2008-02-11T11:03:00.000-05:00

The February update of the Communication Abstracts database is now complete, with new journal 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

Super Bowl Ads: More Humor, More Animals, Fewer Celebrities

2008-02-04T09:33:00.000-05:00

There was more -- though not necessarily better -- humor than ever before in this year's crop of Super Bowl ads, according to an updated interactive analysis on the New York Times Web site, but it was more likely to be delivered by animals than by celebrities.

85% of the ads featured humor, the highest percentage in the 25 years tracked on the Times site. At the same time, 43% of the ads featured animals, also a record. And, for the first time, there were more ads with animals than with celebrities. (32% featured celebrities, up from last year but below the record 40% in 2003.)

The Times analysis provides an interactive look at Super Bowl ads from 1984 to 2008. Use the slider at the top of the screen to move through the years. For each year, it shows a count of the number of ads in different product categories (vehicles, beverages, travel, food, etc.) plus the percentage of ads featuring humor, animals, and celebrities. Selected ads can be viewed on screen.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2008-01-28T11:24:00.000-05:00

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.)

New Guide: Interpersonal Communication

2008-01-26T14:27:00.000-05:00

Help with research into interpersonal communication is now available in a new online guide. The guide, available at http://libguides.bc.edu/interpersonal, provides strategies and sources for finding articles, books, background information, and tests & measures. Click on the Getting Help tab for additional support, and feel free to use the Comment links in the guide to suggest improvements or enhancements to the guide.

"If It Catches My Eye": Teens and Online News

2008-01-22T16:38:00.000-05:00

Teenagers aren’t much into following serious news online, but news organizations can – and should – cultivate their interest, according to a new report from the Media Management Center at Northwestern University.

The report, "If It Catches My Eye: An Exploration of Online News Experiences of Teenagers," is based on a study of 65 Chicago-area teens conducted last year. Among its findings:

*Teens are not interested enough to go out of their way for "serious" news. So whatever news pops up in front of them when they turn on their computers – usually the large Internet portals and news aggregators – is what they see.
*At the same time, teens are "interestable." They will look at many different kinds of news online if it captures their attention – with subjects that interest them, video, pictures, the right topics, humorous and weird news and new things.
*News organizations should listen to teens and actively develop new products, campaigns and initiatives aimed at attracting teens to the news, “catching the eye" and then deepening their interest by focusing on subjects teens are most interested in, providing the features and functionalities they like, and building on their interest in humor.
*News content should be placed on sites where teens spend their time.
*Programs should be developed to decrease teens' angst about the news.

See the full report online for more.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2008-01-17T09:23:00.000-05:00

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.)

New BC Libraries Website

2008-01-16T11:22:00.000-05:00

The BC Libraries website was relaunched over the break with a new cleaner and easier-to-use format in line with the look of other BC websites.

Key pages for communication studies include a Research Help by Subject page. There you'll find quick links to the major communication databases, in-depth research guides, and course-specific pages. Similar portals for other disciplines, including many of value to communication research, are also available.

Use the Website feedback form on the home page to send comments to our Web administration, or contact me with any questions or comments about using the site for your research.

Getting Help with Your Research

2008-01-16T10:59:00.000-05:00

Welcome back! As you get into your Communication coursework this semester, remember that I'm here to help. Here are some of the things I can do for you:

* Classroom Sessions: I'll be visiting many of your classes 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, drop by my office, or contact me via the live help boxes on many of my pages.
* Books & Bytes: Watch Major Mail each week for news, tips, suggestions, and ideas about communication information resources available to you.
* My Home Page: Visit my home page (http://www2.bc.edu/~lissk/) 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.

"Video Snacking": Prime Time on the Web

2008-01-07T08:51:00.000-05:00

"In cubicles across the country, lunchtime has become the new prime time," reports the New York Times, and content producers and advertisers are taking notice.

Office workers frequently spend at least part of their lunch hour watching short videos -- "video snacking" -- and while this midday spike is not new, according to the Times, the response of media companies is new.

The article describes how media organizations, including CNN, NBC, local television stations and newspapers, and others, are creating programming specifically targeted at the lunchtime Web crowd. Advertisers and marketers are paying attention too, with some reporting that "consumers are up to 30 percent more likely to make a purchase after viewing an advertisement at lunchtime than at other times of the day."

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2007-12-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

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.)

EveryZing: Audio & Video Text Search

2007-12-11T10:51:00.000-05:00

EveryZing, a Boston-based search engine formerly known as PodZinger, offers the ability to search online audio and video files for specific words or phrases that appear. Unlike most video search engines that search tags or other information about the videos, EveryZing uses speech-to-text technology to make it possible to search the actual words spoken.

Content varies widely, but include such mainstream news media sources as NBC's Meet the Press, ABC and CBS News podcasts, as well as several local newscasts, sports radio, selected YouTube videos, and more.

Search results not only present the matching audio and video files, they let you go to the point or points in a program where your search terms appear. You can also click on "More from this source" to search a particular program.

Last Minute Help with Citation Styles

2007-12-10T10:09:00.000-05:00

Are you having trouble with APA or MLA citation style for that end-of-semester paper? Help is available in a number of ways.

First check out the excellent online guides to APA and MLA from the Writers' Workshop at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. You'll find instructions and examples there for the most common types of references and in-text citations -- and for some less common types, as well.

You can also find the full APA and MLA manuals in O'Neill Library. Just ask for them at the reference desk. If you're still stuck, send me a message. I'm not an expert, but I'll check my sources and try to find the answer you need.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2007-11-30T08:51:00.000-05:00

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.)

Journals in the Library: Where Are They?

2007-11-27T17:25:00.000-05:00

Finding the hard copy of a journal or other periodical in the library is not always as straightforward as it would seem. Hard copies of journals, including many that are not available online, can be in one of several places depending on the title, the date, and a variety of other factors.

Here are a few things to keep in mind to simplify the task of finding the journal you need.

1. “Current” periodicals are generally shelved on Level 3 (the main level) in O’Neill Library. Turn right just past the Reference Desk and cross the atrium to the first set of shelves. These periodicals are arranged by call number, not by title, so you’ll need to get the call number of the journal you’re looking for. (More on that in a minute.) Keep in mind that “current” means the most recent issues of a publication, but that can vary from a few weeks for daily newspapers to two or three years or more for less frequently published journals.

2. Older editions of many journals are bound into books and then mixed in with regular books on shelves throughout the library. You’ll find them under the same call number – but in a different location – as those in the Current Periodicals section. Past issues of some periodicals are only available on microfilm or microfiche on Level 1 of the library. These, too, are arranged by call number.

3. To find out exactly where a particular issue of a journal or periodical is located, look up the title in Quest, the BC Libraries Catalog. (You can restrict your search to journals by choosing “Journal Titles Catalog” from the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.) Once you find the title you are looking for, click on the link that says “Availability.” You'll be taken to a page telling you what we have, by date, and where to find it. If you’re having trouble finding something, ask for help at the Reference Desk.

Copyright and Media Clips in the Classroom

2007-11-26T20:43:00.000-05:00

What's "fair use" when it comes to showing films, television shows and assorted media clips in the classroom?

Inside Higher Ed has a nice write-up on the "patchwork of laws and rulings on the use of media for educational purposes" and the efforts of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies to "clarify the boundaries with a new set of best-practices guidelines..."

The creators of the Society's Statement of Best Practices, writes IHE, "hope that it will give professors a tool for interpreting existing law as well as provide a unified set of standards to eliminate confusion between instructors and college administrations."

One issue still to be addressed: the rights of students who need to use film or media clips for class presentations. For now, allowances for fair use -- vague and confusing as they are -- only apply to instructors.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2007-11-21T08:13:00.000-05:00

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.)

Taking Work Home for Thanksgiving?

2007-11-19T07:43:00.001-05:00

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!

Using RefWorks with Communication Databases

2007-11-19T06:59:00.000-05:00

With Communication Abstracts (and other CSA Illumina databases)
1. Do your search and check off the articles you want to save.

2. Click on the RefWorks logo at the top of the list of results.

3. Click on the Export to RefWorks button.

4. Log in to your RefWorks Account.
5. Save the imported results to one of your RefWorks folders.

With Communication & Mass Media Complete
1. Do your search and click on the link that says "Add" or "Add to Folder"

.
2. After you've added one or more articles, click on the link that says "Folder Has Items"

3. Click on "Select All" or check off articles individually.

4. Click on "Export"

5. Click on the Save button
6. Log in to your RefWorks Account.
7. Save the imported results to one of your RefWorks folders.

Note: If you use RefWorks off campus you'll need the group password (in addition to your own username and password) to log in. It is available at http://www.bc.edu/refworks-code.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2007-11-14T12:51:00.000-05:00

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.)

Don't Get Mistaken for Spam

2007-11-13T07:18:00.000-05:00

Questions from students get top priority when I check my e-mail -- except when I think they're something else.

When e-mailing me to ask for help, be sure to include something descriptive in the subject line. It can be as simple as "research question" or "research help" or the name or number of the course. But if I don't recognize your name and you leave the subject line blank or say something generic like "Hello," I'm liable to think it's one of the growing number of spam messages that get through the BC filters.

Don't let that happen to you. Make sure I know it's a request for help, and you'll go to the top of my list.

Setting Up a RefWorks Account

2007-11-13T07:13:00.000-05:00

1. To set up your 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 This Week

2007-11-08T10:42:00.000-05:00

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.)

What Do You Mean "No Ads"?

2007-11-05T08:54:00.000-05:00

Online access to thousands of newspapers and magazines has been a great boon to researchers in communication and other fields.

Unlike most academic journals, however, many of these publications are available online in text only. That means no ads, and that can be a problem if it's advertising that you want to study.

There are exceptions, and you'll find links to some good sources of ads in the Advertising & Public Relations research guide.

But for many newspapers and general and special interest magazines access to ads means going to the print (if we have it) or to microfilm (where color and quality are lost.)

If you need help finding ads from a particular publication or of a particular type, just ask.  There may be other ways to find what you need.

Can You Say "BOO!" in APA Format?

2007-10-31T08:54:00.001-04:00

* "Reactions of zoo animals to 'disturbing' Halloween masks" (Master's Thesis, University of South Alabama, 2003)
* "Size of Halloween witch drawings prior to, on, and after Halloween" (Perceptual Motor Skills, February 1963)
* "Assembling processes in a periodic gathering: Halloween in Athens, Ohio" (Sociological Focus, May 1992)
* "The pink dragon is female: Halloween costumes and gender markers" (Psychology of Women Quarterly, June 2000)
* "Jack O'Lanterns and integrating spheres: Halloween physics" (American Journal of Physics, June 2006)
* "Dressing in costume and the use of alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs by college students" (Adolescence, Spring 1993)
* "The Halloween Effect and Japanese equity prices: myth or exploitable anomaly?" (Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, December 2003)

So have a good time tonight, but be careful: there may be a scholar lurking behind that bush.

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2007-10-30T08:45:00.000-04:00

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

Discourse Studies
Health Communication
Journalism & Communication Monographs
New Media & Society
Presidential Studies Quarterly (Special Issue: Shadows of Democracy in Presidential Rhetoric)
Television & New Media

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

Red Sox Win World Series!

2007-10-26T13:46:00.000-04:00

Find all of these original articles and more in Boston Globe, 1872-1924, one of several historic newspaper databases available from the Boston College Libraries.

(And, yes, I know they won the Series in 2004, too [and now 2007]. It's not included for two reasons: 1) It's outside the dates covered by the database; and 2) I'm a Yankee fan.)

“Ask-A-Librarian” in Communication & Mass Media Complete

2007-10-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

Having trouble finding information you need in Communication & Mass Media Complete (CMMC)? Send a message directly from the database, and I'll get back to you with help.

Here's how it works: at the top right of every page in CMMC, there's a link called Ask-A-Librarian.
Click on that link and you'll get a form to enter your name, your e-mail address, and your question. Hit the Send button and your question will get e-mailed to me along with details of any searches you've tried. (You can uncheck a box if you don't want me to see your searches.)

I can only e-mail you back, so it might not be instantaneous, but at least you can ask the question at the point it comes up.

Of course, you can contact me outside CMMC at anytime, by e-mail, phone (617-552-2183), Facebook, or live chat from my home page.

Communication Abstracts: October Update

2007-10-22T10:31:00.000-04:00

The October update of the Communication Abstracts database is now complete, with 340 new journal 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

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2007-10-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

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.)

E-Journals and Online Databases: What's the Difference?

2007-10-15T08:56:00.000-04:00

Are "E-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 "E-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 "E-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.

Learn to Use RefWorks: Hands-On Workshops

2007-10-03T08:59:00.000-04:00

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.

You can save references directly from Communication Abstracts, Communication & Mass Media Complete and other databases. RefWorks will even generate a bibliography of references, using APA, MLA, or another format that you select.

I'll be offering hands-on workshops on RefWorks several times this semester, beginning with three sessions this week and next. Here are the dates and times. (All sessions are in O'Neill 105):

Thursday, October 4th - 10 am
Thursday, October 11th - 4 pm
Friday, October 12th - 10 am

Space is limited to 10 per session. I don't expect to fill them all up, but let me know if you're planning to attend at one of these times.

--

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2007-09-26T09:18:00.000-04:00

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.)

WGBH's New Building and Video Archive

2007-09-20T13:35:00.000-04:00

Not far from the BC campus, the new headquarters of WGBH, Boston's public television/public radio station, opened this week to much fanfare. Much of the attention has focused on the media element of the building itself, a "digital skin" presenting changing LED images over the cars on the Massachusetts Turnpike passing beneath it.

(See "Three new buildings about communication are also designed to communicate" for more on the WGBH headquarters and two other communication-related buildings all designed by the same architectural firm.)

WGBH has also introduced the WGBH OpenVault, a selection of streaming video clips and interview transcripts from several of the station's current and past programs.

Designed to encourage educators and scholars in higher education to incorporate these materials into classroom curricula and outside study [says 'GBH in a press release], Open Vault includes over 500 streaming video clips and more than 1,000 interviews....

Among the programs drawn from for the OpenVault are:

*New Television Workshop, an experimental video art series on the air from1974 to 1993
*Say Brother (now Basic Black), an African American public affairs series with programs from 1968 to 1982
*the Ten O’Clock News, a Boston-based nightly news program including stories on the African American community and busing from 1974 through1991
*interviews from two WGBH series, War and Peace in the Nuclear Age, originally broadcast in 1989, andVietnam, A Television History, first presented in 1983

Times to Stop Charging for Parts of Its Web Site

2007-09-18T09:59:00.000-04:00

Two years after making parts of its Web site -- including its columnists -- available only to paying customers, the New York Times is abandoning its subscription-based TimesSelect service at midnight tonight.

All parts of the site, as well the Times archives from 1851-1922 and from 1987 to the present, will be available at no cost. (BC users have access to the Times via various databases, including scanned images of every article from 1851 to 2004 via ProQuest Historical Newspapers.)

The Wall Street Journal, the only major paper still charging for access to most of its Web site, is discussing whether to continue that practice, says the Times, noting that Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp. is taking over the Journal, has mentioned the possibility of making the online version of the paper free.

Times to Stop Charging for Parts of Its Web Site, New York Times
'All the News That's Fit to Print' for Free, Forbes
Times Ends Fee on TimesSelect Content, Washington Post

Have Fun! Win Prizes! Learning Something New!

2007-09-17T06:31:00.000-04:00

The Communication Collage @ BC

The Communication Collage is a Web page with more than 100 images relating to various forms of communication. Each month that school is in session, I create links on selected images sharing a certain theme. Click on the right images to find theme-related Fun Facts, Research Tips, and Puzzle Clues.

Put all of the clues together, doing a little research in the process, to get the final answer. This month's theme? Public Speaking. The first five BC Communication majors to respond correctly will win copies of "Addressing the State of the Union: The Evolution and Impact of the President's Big Speech" by Donna R. Hoffman and Alison D. Howard (courtesy of Lynne Reiner Publishers).

Give it a shot and have fun!

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2007-09-12T08:27:00.000-04:00

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.)

Washington Post Issue Coverage Tracker

2007-09-07T15:09:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post Web site has introduced an Issue Coverage Tracker that graphically displays the amount of coverage each of the presidential candidates is receiving on the campaign trail.

The version below, which the Post makes available for posting on blogs and Web sites, lets you see a breakdown of stories, issue-by-issue, about each candidate over the past two months. Go to the full version for different options and more advanced features. It's worth a look.

The application, according to the Post, draws from the Web sites of "a wide variety of sources across the political spectrum [including] news organizations, political parties, interest groups, bloggers, unions, trade organizations, candidates, activists, and more."

CDC Webcast: Health Communication, Marketing, and Media

2007-09-05T08:19:00.000-04:00

Selected Webcasts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's first National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing, and Media are now available online.

The conference, held in Atlanta August 29th-30th, was designed "to provide a scientific and professional forum for researchers and practitioners to share insights, research findings, and best practices to advance the fields of health communication, marketing and media."

The following programs can be viewed from the CDC Web site.

Opening Plenary: Understanding Customers/Consumers

Using Metaphor to Understand and Communicate to Your Audiences
Mary Beth Jowers, Managing Director of Olson Zaltman Associates
Self-Invention and Self-Care: A Yankelovich MONITOR Perspective on Understanding Health Consumers In the Emerging Era of Consumer Empowerment
Dr. J. Walker Smith, President of Yankelovich, Inc.

Special Keynote Presentation: Dr. Jeff French

Applying Social Marketing Strategically: Lessons from England
Dr. Jeff French, Director of the National Social Marketing Centre in London, England

Closing Plenary: Reaching Customers/Consumers

Health Communication Challenges in the Digital World
Speaker: Dr. Esther Thorson, Professor and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, Director of Research, Reynolds Journalism Institute, University of Missouri – Columbia

Developing a Collaborative Distribution Channels Strategy
Speaker: Dr. Robert Spekman, Tayloe Murphy Professor of Business Administration, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2007-09-04T16:49:00.000-04:00

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.)

We've Launched! LibGuides @ BC

2007-08-31T15:24:00.000-04:00

LibGuides @ BC, a new generation of research guides from your Boston College Librarians, launched today. Check us out at http://libguides.bc.edu.

Update: More about the LibGuides @ BC project on my tracking changes/changing tracks blog.

New Communication Books @ BC

2007-08-29T07:22:00.000-04:00

See what's been added to the collections over the summer. New Communication Books @ BC
presents a categorized list of titles in all areas of communication that have come in since the end of the past academic year. Click on a category to see a list of titles, then click on a title for more information. (A link in the "Review" box will bring you to the Quest Library Catalog record for the book.)

E-Journals: New Issues This Week

2007-08-13T13:43:00.000-04:00

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 Abstracts Update

2007-07-30T18:03:00.001-04:00

The August update of the Communication Abstracts database is now complete, with 640 new journal 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

New Journal: Communication Methods and Measures

2007-07-28T14:12:00.000-04:00

The first two issues (issue 1; issue 2) of Communication Methods and Measures, a new journal from the publisher Erlbaum, is now available electronically via the BC Libraries.

Here's the publisher's description of the journal:

The aims of Communication Methods and Measures are to bring developments in methodology, both qualitative and quantitative, to the attention of communication scholars, to provide an outlet for discussion and dissemination of methodological tools and approaches to researchers across the field, to comment on practices with suggestions for improvement in both research design and analysis, and to introduce new methods of measurement useful to communication scientists or improvements on existing methods. Submissions focusing on methods for improving research design and theory testing using quantitative and/or qualitative approaches are encouraged. Articles devoted to epistemological issues of relevance to communication research methodologies are also appropriate. This journal welcomes well-written manuscripts on the use of methods as well as articles illustrating the advantages of newer or less widely known methods over those traditionally used in communication.

Access to Historic Television Materials

2007-07-19T13:07:00.000-04:00

An interesting essay in the latest edition of Cinema Journal looks at the availability of historic TV footage for scholars and what they can do to help assure that more is collected, preserved, and made accessible for research.

"The truth is that a great deal of television's history has been lost over the years," writes Margaret Compton of the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, "but, despite this, more programs exist than you may know of...."

Archival TV collections in places outside the major centers of New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, says Compton, preserve "thousands of obscure, non-prime-time, or local shows [that are] vitally important in studying the full history of television."

Archivists, she says, "want to save as much television material as we can, whether 'low' culture (cable access) or 'high' culture (PBS, Bravo), public service spot or prime-time sitcom."

Their efforts, Compton writes, are hampered by the massive volume of television content, by the technical challenges of obsolete formats and equipment, digital conversion, file migration, and data storage, and by budget and staff cuts at libraries, archives, museums, and historical societies.

Scholars, for their own benefit and for that of television history, can help, she says:

"[I]n order for archives to succeed in their missions, they need the patronage and support of scholars. The number of annual research inquiries and visits can drive or enhance existing archival budgets. Scholars' interest in and demand for rare materials can spur partnerships (and justifications) for funding grants."

The alternative, adds Compton, may be to rely for TV scholarship on those programs that commercial interests and rights holders determine will be released on DVD.

"Yet if scholars write only about the programs that are available on DVD or currently being broadcast, then they miss out on most of television's history."

Compton's article, "The Archivist, the Scholar, and Access to Historic Television Materials" (BC login required) is part of a special "In Focus" section of Cinema Journal on "The Archive in the 21st Century."

(Thanks to my colleague Sharon Black at UPenn's Annenberg School for Communication Library for pointing out the essay)

Communication Abstracts Update

2007-06-27T10:32:00.000-04:00

The June update of the Communication Abstracts database is now complete, with 639 new journal 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

New Journal: Electronic News

2007-05-29T14:50:00.000-04:00

The first issue of Electronic News, a new journal from the publisher Erlbaum, is now available electronically via the BC Libraries.

Here's the publisher's description of the journal:

Electronic News is a quarterly journal devoted to advancing knowledge and understanding of news as disseminated through electronic media platforms. This journal will promote and publish readily accessible research and ideas that have clear relevance to the content, practice, and administration of electronic news, especially radio, television, and the Internet, and related areas, such as station Web sites. The journal will also provide articles for those who practice and/or teach broadcast/electronic journalism and related topics. The journal will provide both scholars and industry practitioners the opportunity to publish and read applied research, and will include research articles, invited essays, and reviews of books relevant to electronic news as an evolving and dynamic practice.

A Note of Thanks

2007-05-11T12:53:00.001-04:00

Awards & Rewards

2007-05-09T16:17:00.000-04:00

Each of the three academic years I've been at BC, I've attended the annual Communication Department Honors Dinner. It's a great opportunity to see students I've worked with -- and others -- be recognized for their accomplishments. This year it seemed a particularly high number of award winners were students I had worked with individually at some point in their time here, so I decided to do a quick count.

I offer the results below, partly as self-congratulation (I'm not above that), and partly to reinforce the idea that getting help from the librarian can be part of your success as a comm major. No, I'm not guaranteeing that if you come see me your GPA will go up, but don't be one of those students afraid or embarrassed to ask for help. That's what I'm here for; let me know what I can do for you.

Percentage of Communication Award Winners Who Contacted the Communication Librarian for Individual Help
Dorman Picklesimer Jr. Outstanding Major Awards (Top 25 GPAs)
60% (15/25)

Majors Registered for Honors Classes
63% (26/41)

Communication Department Academic Excellence Awards (recognizing excellence in writing and creative work)
67% (4/6)

Junior Scholar Awards (Students presenting original research at a Communication conference)
73% (8/11)

Majors Graduating with Communication Honors
75% (21/28)

Phi Beta Kappa Communication Majors
86% (12/14)

24-Hour Study

2007-05-08T11:45:00.000-04:00

Both the O’Neill Library Reserve Reading Room and Gargan Hall in the Bapst Library will be open for 24-hour study through the evening of Monday, May 14. See Library hours for more on which libraries are open when.

Blackwell Reference Online

2007-05-08T11:40:00.000-04:00

Several new electronic reference books of value in Communication Studies are now available via Blackwell Reference Online. These include: A Companion to Media Studies; A Companion to Television; A Companion to Cultural Studies; The Handbook of Discourse Analysis; and many others in psychology, sociology, race and ethnicity studies, and other disciplines.

In Media Res

2007-04-27T09:33:00.000-04:00

In Media Res is an experiment from the Institute for the Future of the Book's Media Commons project that uses short video clips and comments about them to "promote an online dialogue amongst media scholars and the public about contemporary media scholarship."

A fuller description of the experiment is quoted below. You can view the posted videos and commentary on them on the In Media Res site.

Each day, a different media scholar will present a 30-second to 3-minute clip accompanied by a 100-150-word impressionistic response. The goal is to promote an online dialogue amongst media scholars and the public about contemporary media scholarship through clips chosen for either their typicality or atypicality in demonstrating narrative strategies, genre formulations, aesthetic choices, representational practices, institutional approaches, fan engagements, etc.

In Media Res is envisioned as an experiment in just one sort of collaborative, multi-modal scholarship that MediaCommons will aim to foster. Its primary goal is to provide a forum for more immediate critical engagement with media at a pace closer to how we typically experience mediated texts. In Media Res hopefully will:

• Give scholars the opportunity to critically engage with the media in a more immediate and timely way.

• Promote discussion within the media studies community through virtual interactions around contemporary media artifacts.

• Enable a lively debate in which the sum total of the conversation will be more valuable than any one particular voice.

• Bridge the divide between academic and non-academic communities, inviting a critically-engaged and/or curious public to join in.

• Lead to the emergence of new scholarly and pedagogical ideas about studying and teaching media.

• Work toward reinvigorating the academic’s role as public intellectual by presenting media scholars no just as informed experts with valuable ideas to impart about critical media literacy, but as fellow citizens in a mediated society.

Citation Confusion?

2007-04-23T11:28:00.000-04:00

Are you putting together a list of works cited for a research paper and having trouble with citation formats? There are several places you can turn for help.

The Writer's Resources section of the BC Libraries Web site includes links to several helpful tools. Among the most useful: online APA and MLA citation guides from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Writers' Workshop.
Style manuals at the O'Neill Reference Desk. Ask for manuals on APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian at the desk. These are the official manuals and can help figure out the right way to cite common and uncommon resources.
RefWorks. If you're already using RefWorks, you probably know about the bibliography tool. If not, it might be a little late to learn everything about RefWorks, but get in touch with me and I can give you some tips on how to make the most of it in a short time.

Finally, don't be afraid to ask for help from me or from any of the librarians at the Reference Desk.

JibJab Animation: What We Call the News

2007-04-12T20:25:00.000-04:00

Communication Abstracts Update

2007-04-04T13:48:00.000-04:00

The April update of the Communication Abstracts database is now complete, with 640 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