1. Facts and Background Materials
2. Finding Books
3. Finding Articles
4. Writing Guides
5. Selected Web Resources

Facts and Background Materials

• Encyclopedia of Communication and Information -- PRINT REF P87.5.E53 2002 3 volumes. Brief articles on subjects related to communication and information. Generally has a U.S. perspective.
• Encyclopedia of New Media: An Essential Reference to Communication and Technology -- PRINT and ELECTRONIC REF QA76.575.E5368 2003 Brief articles on people and concepts focused on "new media" such as cds, the world wide web, streaming media, etc.
• International Encyclopedia of Communications -- PRINT REF P87.5.I5 1989 4 volumes. Longer articles, heavily illustrated, concerning all aspects of communication, from animal communication to telecommunication networks.
• iPoll — ELECTRONIC
  Full text, searchable results from US nationwide public opinion polls. Organized at the question-level, and includes nearly a half million questions asked on national public opinion surveys since 1935 to the present.
• Mass Media & Society -- PRINT REF HM258.M26578 1997 Contains longer scholarly articles on different types of media and media-related issues.
• Sage Research Methods Online — ELECTRONIC
  SRMO is a powerful research methods tool, linking SAGE’s renowned research methods content with sophisticated search tools to help researcher answer their research methods questions like never before. The site contains 504 book titles, including the entire QASS (aka Little Green Book) series, 6 dictionaries, 4 encyclopedias and a Major Work containing journal articles. They also have a visual Methods Map tool and playlist functionality called SRMO Lists.
• Webster's New World Dictionary of Media and Communications -- PRINT REF P87.5.W45 1990 Brief definitions of terms related to media and communication.

Finding Books

• Searching the catalog for books on communication:
• Try an LC subject search:
• communication in organizations mass media rhetoric
• Try a keyword search:
• communication and ethnographylinguistics and community
• Browse the 2nd floor stacks:
• BF637.C45 Interpersonal Communication HM1166-1253 Interpersonal Communication/Public Relations P1-381 Communication/Mass Media/Linguistics

Finding Articles

• ComAbstracts -- ELECTRONICIndexes over 80 important communication journals with links to some full text. Date coverage varies, but most titles are covered for at least the past twenty years.
• Communication and Mass Media Complete -- ELECTRONICCMMC incorporates the content of CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association) and Mass Media Articles Index (formerly produced by Penn State) along with numerous other journals in communication, mass media, and other closely-related fields of study to create a research and reference resource encompassing the breadth of the communication discipline. CMMC offers cover-to-cover (core) indexing and abstracts for more than 420 journals, and selected (priority) coverage of nearly 200 more, for a combined coverage of more than 600 titles.
• SAGE Journals Online :: SAGE Premier Collection -- ELECTRONIC Full text, searchable collection of more than 500 scholarly journals, mostly in the social sciences, including 16 communication journals. All are indexed and linked through ComAbstracts or Communications and Mass Media Complete.
• MLA Bibliography -- ELECTRONICAlthough primarily known as a source of information on literature, this database contains a substantial number of citations for works on linguistics.
• New York Times (Historical) - ELECTRONIC

  Full Text coverage of the New York Times from 1851 - 2003, including original images.

• ProQuest Research Library -- ELECTRONICA large multi-disciplinary database containing information on communication studies and linguistics.
• PsycINFO — ELECTRONIC
  Indexes journal articles, dissertations, books, and more in the psychological and behavioral sciences. This is the primary journal index for Psychology. Offers insight into communication issues from a psychological perspective.
• Social Sciences Citation Index (ISI) — ELECTRONIC
  Indexes journal literature in the social sciences, with significant coverage of sociology. Includes considerable information on communication and linguistics.
•  Sociological Abstracts — ELECTRONIC
  Indexes and abstracts the literature in socology and related disciplines from an international selection of journals, serials, conference papers, books, and dissertations, from 1952 to the present. Includes information on communication and related disciplines.
• Washington Post (1877-1995) - ELECTRONIC

  ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post (1877-1995). This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. For more recent Washington Post articles, see LexisNexis Academic coverage (1977 - Present)

Writing Guides

• The Business Writer's Handbook -- PRINTHF5726 .B874 2006
• The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science -- PRINTT10.5 .M65 2003
• Essential Communication Strategies for Scientists, Engineers, and Technology Professionals -- PRINTT10.5 .H57 2003
• The IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication : A Guide to Internal Communication, Public Relations, Marketing, and Leadership -- PRINTHD30.36.U5 I56 2006
• Ideas into Words : Mastering the Craft of Science Writing -- ELECTRONIC
• Science and Technical Writing : A Manual of Style -- PRINT and ELECTRONICT11 .S37 2001
• Technical Writing with Style -- ELECTRONIC
• Writing in Political Science : A Practical Guide -- PRINTJA86 .S36 2000

Selected Web Resources

This list includes only a small fraction of useful web resources for this field. More web sites, which have undergone the same selection process, as available in my Pinboard tags on the right-hand side of this research guide.

• Brief Guide to Business Writing -- WWW Outline of writing issues and sample business documents, written by two professors in the University of Iowa's Department of Management and Organizations.
• Communication Studies: Associations and Organizations -- WWW There are a large number of communication-related professional associations. This list of organizations from the Association of College and Research Libraries is one of the most extensive.
• Communication Studies: Gender, Race and Ethnicity in Media -- WWW Links to websites, electronic books, and other online sources of information related to diversity issues in communication. From the University of Iowa's Department of Communication Studies.
• Media Literacy Online Project -- WWW Developed by the University of Oregon's School of Education, this site provides resources that promote media literacy, especially among children and adolescents. Includes resource links, archived readings, and links to other organizations of interest.
• Online Technical Writing -- WWW Online textbook for college-level course in Technical Communication.
• Resources for Technical Writers -- WWW Useful website links from Writers Write.
• "The Science of Scientific Writing" -- WWW Article by George D. Gopen and Judith A. Swan, originally appearing in American Scientist, 1990. Contains useful information for understanding scientific communication. A pdf file.