Taking Work Home for Thanksgiving?

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

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

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

• Communication Research
• Human Relations
• Journal of Language and Social Psychology
• Journal of Mass Media Ethics
• Journalism
  
• Public Relations Review
  

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

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

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 take your list and generate a bibliography of references, using APA, MLA, or another format that you select.

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

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

• Cultural Studies <=> Critical Methodologies
  
• Discourse & Society
• European Journal of Cultural Studies
  
• Health Promotion Practice
  
• International Communication Gazette
• Journal of Nonverbal Behavior
  
• Journal of Social & Personal Relationships
  
• Media, Culture & Society
  
• Telecommunications Policy
  

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"?

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.