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Journalism and Communication

The following is a selected list of resources for starting research in journalism and mass communication studies. For further assistance, contact Paul Frantz, Reference Librarian, at pfrantz@uoregon.edu.

Starting Your Research

These sources can help you identify a topic for your research. Some provide an overview of a specific issue and suggest other materials which might be useful for your research. Others help you to find a topic that might be of interest to you.

  • Encyclopedia of Communication and Information (online; also in print at Knight Reference P 87.5 E53 2002; 3 volumes)
  • Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications (Knight Reference P 87.5 .E532 2003; 4 volumes)
  • History of the Mass Media in the United States: an Encyclopedia (Knight Reference P 92 .U5 H54 1998)
  • James Watson's and Anne Hill's Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies, 6th edition, (Knight Reference P 87.5 .W38 2003)
  • Two standard sources that overview their respective fields: Christopher Sterling's Mass Communications Research Resources: An Annotated Guide (Knight Reference HE 7631 .M37 1998); and Jo Cates' Journalism: A Guide to the Reference Literature, 3rd ed. (Knight Reference Z 6940 .C38 2004).
  • Encyclopedia Britannica: Concise, frequently scholarly, articles on many topics of interest to those doing work in journalism and communication.

Finding Articles

OneSearch Quicksets (use box below) allows you to enter keyword(s) and have them searched in a number of media-related databases simultaneously...

... or you can select one of the following databases that offer more powerful searching capabilities, such as limiting to journal articles.

  • Communication and Mass Media Complete indexes over 500 mass media journals and offers the full text of about 230 of these.
  • ComAbstracts is a database that indexes and abstracts articles published in the primary professional literature of the communications field. A product of the Communication Institute of Online Scholarship (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), it indexes 48 journals from approximately 1990 to the present.
  • Sociological Abstracts provides indexing for over 1500 periodicals in the social sciences.
  • Ronald Matlon's Index to Journals in Communication Studies (Knight Reference P 87 .M37) provides retrospective indexing and table of contents for a number of core journals.
  • Finding News Articles is useful for locating newspaper article databases, such as Lexis-Nexis Academic, with its full-text access to national and regional American newspapers, Newspaper Source, and indexes to the Portland Oregonian and Eugene Register-Guard.
  • Business Source Premier provides coverage of periodicals and journals in advertising, marketing, and public relations.
  • Ethnic NewsWatch contains the complete text of articles, editorials, and reviews published in approximately 200 ethnic and minority newspapers, magazines, and journals published in the U.S.
  • World News Connection is compiled from thousands of non-U.S. media sources, including radio and television broadcasts and prominent international news sources.
  • Small Town Papers provides the text of over 250 local newspapers from around the United States (with varying archival access).

Finding Books and Dissertations

  • The University of Oregon Library Catalog identifies books and other resources owned by the UO Library.
    Books on journalism and communication can be found under the following call numbers:
    • HE 7601-8700 Telecommunications
    • HF 5801-6182 Advertising
    • HM 258-263 Public relations
    • HQ 784-799 Media and children
    • KF 2750 & KF 4770 Media law
    • P 87-96 Mass media
    • PN 1990-1992 Radio and television broadcasting
    • PN 4699-5650 Journalism
    • TR 820-821 Photojournalism
  • The Summit (Orbis Cascade) Union Catalog makes available approximately 27, 000, 000 items from over 30 Northwest academic libraries.
  • WorldCat provides access to library catalogs around the world and is most frequently used for verifying books, manuscripts, conference proceedings, etc. for interlibrary loan purposes.
  • Dissertation Abstracts provides summary information to dissertations in all subjects from 1861 to the present.

Contacting People and Organizations

  • Editor & Publisher International Yearbook (Knight Reference PN 4700 .E42; located at the Reference Desk) is an essential directory of the American newspaper industry.
  • The corresponding guide to the foreign press is Willing's Press Guide (Knight Reference Z 6956 .E5 W5; located at the Reference Desk).
  • For a comprehensive listing of American television, cable, and radio stations, consult the Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook (Documents Reference HF 6146 .R3 B72).
  • The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication provides membership and convention information, a list of the association's publications, and regional opportunities.
  • Other scholarly communication studies organizations include the International Communication Association and the National Communication Association.

Web Resources

Maintained by: Paul Frantz, pfrantz@uoregon.edu
Last Modified: 02/18/2008