BIS365: Popular and Consumer Culture (Goldberg)
Getting Started at the Library

Class Workshops - we will meet in the library computer classroom, LB1-222 (Library floor map)

January 17: Research on Sept. 11

January 29: Primary and popular sources

Finding and using scholarly sources
Before class on January 17, find at least one "scholarly" source (a journal article, book or book chapter) on your topic. Complete Blackboard posting and bring the article or book to class.

A scholarly source typically has the following characteristics and function:

  • the main purpose of a scholarly source is to report on the author's original research or experimentation in order to make such information available to the rest of the scholarly world
  • author(s) cite their sources in the form of footnotes or bibliographies
  • author is a scholar or expert in the field
  • the language is typically that of the discipline covered
  • usually assume that the reader has some prior knowledge of the topic or problem
  • many scholarly journals, though by no means all, are published by a specific professional organization
  • many scholarly journals are "peer reviewed" or "refereed". To be accepted for publication in a given journal the author of an article must submit his or her article to be reviewed, usually anonymously, by a panel of experts in the field

This guide provides some examples, and compares scholarly sources to popular magazines and newspapers

Here is a short online tutorial about identifying scholarly journals

You can also look up a journal title in the Ulrich's Periodical Directory (UW restricted) to see if the journal itself categorized as scholarly - keep in mind that not all articles published in a scholarly journal are themselves scholarly - your research databases search may also turn up non-scholarly articles such as book reviews, editorials, opinion pieces, etc.

Many books are also considered scholarly, though they typically do not go through the same peer review process as journals. These are published by university or academic "trade" publishers.

Often, the difference between scholarly publications and other types of secondary sources (magazines, newspapers, etc.) is that the former contain extensive footnotes and/or endnotes that document how and why the author makes the claims that s/he does -- and what the limits of those claims are. While both types of publications tend to present you with lots of interesting (or uninteresting) information, only scholarly publications let you in on the secret of how that information was created by revealing the disagreements among "experts" as they research similar questions. This advantage of reading scholarly publications is that they allow you to enter into the creative process of knowledge making by treating you as a fellow researcher who may want to extend, modify, and/or criticize the claims made in what you are reading.

Research Databases and Search Tips

Here are some starting points for your research. You can also browse these subject guides for more ideas. If you're working from off-campus remember to click on the "off campus access" link at the top of this page and enter your UW NetID to be able to search these UW restricted research databases If you need to request a book or article from another UW Library this generally takes about 2-5 days.

Books and book chapters: Browse the books that Prof. Golberg has placed on reserve for this project or search the UW Libraries Catalog

ATLA Religion database -UW restricted

CIAO - UW restricted
Database of research articles and working papers focused on international affairs

Communication & Mass Media Complete -UW restricted 
Journals in communication, mass media and related fields

Expanded Academic Index -UW restricted
Scholarly journals and magazines, covering all major fields of study in the humanities, social sciences, and science and technology

Google Scholar - if you're searching from home/off-campus click on the "off-campus access" link at the top of this page first - this will allow Google scholar to recognize you as a UW affiliated researcher so that you can access the full text of articles

JSTOR UW restricted
Contains full text of over 100 core scholarly journals, going back to the 1800s. JSTOR may not include the most recent 3-5 years for some titles

LegalTrac -UW restricted
Covers over 800 major English language legal journals and seven legal newspapers

PAIS International -UW restricted
Database focused on public policy and law

Proquest Databases -UW restricted 
General-interest, humanities, social science and science scholarly journals, magazines and newspapers

Sociological Abstracts -UW restricted 

Directory of Open Access Journals

UW Libraries Catalog

Web of Science - UW restricted
Do a keyword search of this multidiscplinary research database, or do a "cited reference" search on your scholarly source to see if other scholars have cited it.

Search Tips Review this "Searching" online tutorial. It covers:

  • Distinguishing a database from other types of information collectionsIdentifying the coverage of a databaseUnderstanding the concept of field, or advanced searching in a database
  • Constructing effective search queries using logical operators and related strategies

SAVE TIME AND ENERGY!

Remember to use AND and OR to connect your search terms, parentheses to group related terms, and truncation to search for word variations

Limit the date range to books and articles written after September 2001

Examples:

(9/11 or september 11) and (muslims or islam)

civil libert* and terrorism

(civil libert* or civil rights or national security) and terrorism

(higher education or universit* or college*) and national security

*The asterisk lets you search for liberty or liberties; university or universities; college or colleges

Other subject guides:

 
Finding and using primary and popular sources

Newpaper/magazine databases

Magazines: Proquest databases and Expanded Academic ASAP UW restricted 

News websites (includes other Media Studies links)

 

More Media & Communications Studies resources

Communication and civil liberties websites

Public Opinions/polls

Journalism ethics

Television websites

 
Useful Links
Newspaper and Magazine Articles (OJ Simpson Assignment)

For this assignment you will need to find and analyze several articles that offer an opinion on the O.J. Simpson trial and its aftermath. The following databases will help you find mainstream and non-mainstream articles.

  • You will undoubtedly come across articles that are not available full-text online. When that happens, do a title search for the magazine or resource title (not the article title) in the UW Libraries Catalog to see where and how you can access it.
  • If the articles you need are not available at the UWB/CCC Campus Library, you can request copies through Article delivery form. You should receive them 3-5 days later. There is NO CHARGE for this service for course-related research! Please make sure to select a "pickup" location or an option that indicates "free."

Databases for Finding Newspaper & Magazine Articles
 Here are some pointers for conducting effective searches.

  • Remember to set the date range for your search so you can limit your results to those published in 1995 or from 1995 to the present. Try alternate spellings for OJ's name. Using OJ Simpson might yield different results than O.J. Simpson (with periods). Try both in order to find all relevant articles, ex: (oj simpson OR o.j. simpson)
  • As part of your keyword searches, you may want to include the terms “trial”, “verdict”, “court decision*”, and so on.
  • In addition, many databases's advance search features allow you to search by "document type" or "article type"-- by selecting "editorial" or "opinion" within this advance search option, your search will result in only articles that offer an opinion on the O.J. Simpson trial.

Databases - Articles from Non-Mainstream, Non-General Audience Sources

  • Ethnic Newswatch - UW restricted   Full text articles from newspapers and periodicals published by the ethnic and minority press in America.

    Using Advanced Search in Ethnic or Alt-Press Newswatch:

    Enter your word or phrase, and use the fields to focus your search. Enter a word or phrase into the search field.
  • If you're combining your search with additional search words:
    • Choose the operator (AND, OR) you want to use.Add your search word to the search field next to the operator list.From the drop-down menu, select the field to search.
    • Continue adding words as needed to narrow or broaden your search. If you want to add more terms, click Add a row.
  • Alt-PressWatch - UW restricted  Full text database of selected newspapers, magazines, and journals of the alternative and independent press.

Databases - Mainstream Articles

  • Expanded Academic Index - UW restricted
    scholarly journals and general interest magazines, covers the humanities, social sciences, and science and technology

    Proquest Databases     - UW restricted
    scholarly journals, general-interest magazines and newspapers; covers the humanities, social science, and science and technology

    Lexis-Nexis - UW restricted
    Extensive array of full-text news (newspapers, wire services, transcripts and newsletters), business literature, industry and company information, legal, biographical, and reference resources.

  • Proquest Newspapers - UW restricted 
    Includes Chicago tribune, Los Angeles times, Oregonian, and other major U.S. national newspapers, international English-language newspapers, and selected regional/state newspapers; coverage includes National newspapers and Washington State newsstand.

Connect to the Mass Communications Subject Guide for more ways to find magazine and newspaper articles.Additional Links

Librarian Contact
If you have any questions or need help with your research, please feel free to contact me, or our live chat reference service: Ask a Question: 24/7 help!

Sarah Leadley , American Studies Librarian
Phone: 425-352-5387
Email:  sleadley@uwb.edu
Office: LB1-310D