COMS 356: Intercultural Communication Research

world

The following library and Internet resources are geared toward the research needs of CSUN students taking Communication Studies 356: Intercultural Communication.

Choosing the best resources to use for research involves several factors, including timeliness, intended audience, level of detail needed, as well as course requirements.

For search strategies and resources for researching local ethnic groups and cultures, see Researching Ethnic and Cultural Groups in Los Angeles.

 

Background Information

Titles listed below with a "Location: Ref Rm" are shelved in the Reference Room of the Oviatt Library, main floor.

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Barnouw, Erik et al. (Eds.). (1989). International encyclopedia of communications. New York: Oxford University Press. Location: Ref Rm P87.5 .I5 1989

von Dassanowsky, Robert (Ed.). Gale encyclopedia of multicultural America. (2000). Detroit : Gale Group. Available online.

Ember, Melvin and Carol R. Ember (Eds.). (2001). Countries and their cultures. New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Location: Ref Rm GN307 .C68 2001. Also available on the Web.

Johnston, Donald H. (Ed.). (2003). Encyclopedia of international media and communications. San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press. Location: Ref Rm P87.5 .E532 2003

Lehman, Jeffrey (Ed.). (1999). Gale encyclopedia of multicultural America. Primary documents. Detroit, MI : Gale Group. Location: Ref Rm E184.A1 G15 1999

Levinson, David. (1991-). Encyclopedia of world cultures. Boston, Mass.: G.K. Hall. Location: Floor2 (Ref) GN307 .E53 1991. Also available on the internet including a supplement.

Levinson, David. (1994). Ethnic relations: a cross-cultural encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO. Location: Ref Rm GN496 .L48 1994

Levinson, David and Melvin Ember (Eds.). (1996). Encyclopedia of cultural anthropology. New York: Henry Holt and Co. Location: Ref Rm GN307 .E52 1996

Research Guides and Handbooks

Berger, Charles R. & Chaffee, Steven H. (Eds.). (1987). Handbook of communication science. Beverly Hills: Sage publications. Location: Floor3 P90 .H294 1987

Berger, Arthur Asa. (2000). Media and communication research methods: an introduction to qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Location: Floor3 P91.3 .B385 2000

Block, Eleanor S. and James K. Bracken. (1991). Communication and the mass media: a guide to the reference literature. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited. Location: Floor3(ref) P90 .B54 1991

Communication Studies Committee. (2004). Intercultural Communication: Library Resources for Communication Studies. Chicago, IL: Education and Behavioral Sciences Section, Association of College & Research Libraries. Last update: June 2007.

Rubin, Rebecca B. (2000). Communication research: strategies and sources. Belmont, CA : Wadsworth Thomson Learning. Location: Floor3 P91.3 .R83 1999

Facts, Opinions & Statistics

The following web sites can lead you to facts, opinions, statistics, and background information to support your research.

Finding Articles:

Periodical Indexes/Databases

Overview:

Recommended Periodical Databases:

ABI/INFORM and ProQuest Business Databases college graduate
Access to almost 3000 full- text business journals, many full text newspapers/newsletters and company reports, from 1971 to present. Good for articles on organizational communication, public relations, media business, and related areas.
Academic Search Elite (EBSCOHost) college graduate
Provides full text for nearly 1,850 periodicals, including more than 1,250 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to the full text, indexing and abstracts are provided for all 3,237 periodicals in the collection. This database offers information in nearly every area of academic study, including communication studies. Allows limiting search results to peer-reviewed scholarly journals.
Anthropology Plus (FirstSearch) college graduate
Combines two resources: Anthropological Literature indexes 1,000 anthropology and archaeology journals and monographic series held in the Tozzer Library, Harvard University.
DATES COVERED: late 19th century to the present from 1993 - present. Anthropological Index from The Royal Anthropological Institute, 2001- present.
Communication and Mass Media Complete (EBSCOhost) college graduate
Indexes and abstracts over 600 journals and trade publications; includes full text for over 240 journals. CMMC incorporates the content of CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association) and Mass Media Articles Index (formerly produced by Penn State). Subjects covered include communication studies, journalism, mass media, speech, linguistics, communicative disorders, deaf studies, advertising, and related areas of interest to practitioners and educators in these fields. Dates of coverage vary by journal. A list of journal titles covered by CMMC is available.
Communication Studies Multisearch
Allows you to search up to 10 Library databases related to communication studies using a common interface. Includes many databases that access scholarly journal articles, which will be indicated by peer reviewed in the results list.
eHRAF World Cultures
eHRAF World Cultures is produced by Human Relations Area Files, Inc. (HRAF) at Yale University. eHRAF is a cross-cultural database that contains over 350,000 pages of information on all aspects of cultural and social life for about 100 cultures. The annually-growing eHRAF database is unique in that the information is organized into cultures and ethnic groups and the full-text sources are subject-indexed at the paragraph level. There are over 300 cultures included in the print and microfiche copies of the Human Relations Area Files. The cultures covered in the microfiche collection as well as on the web are described at Human Relations Area Files--Cultures Covered. CSUN's microfiche collection is located on the 4th floor, East wing. There is a white binder at the Reference Desk in the Oviatt Library which lists the cultures available in microfiche or on the web.
Ethnic NewsWatch (ProQuest)
Full text articles from more than 270 ethnic, minority and native press publications, including newspapers, magazines and journals, 1960 to present.
GenderWatch (ProQuest) college graduate
Contains unique and diverse publications that focus on how gender impacts a broad spectrum of subject areas. With archival material dating back to 1970, GenderWatch is a repository of an important historical perspective on the evolution of both the women's movement and major changes in gender roles.
General OneFile (Gale) college graduate
From arts and the humanities to social sciences, science and technology, this database meets research needs across all academic disciplines. Access over 9,000 scholarly journals, and general interest news magazines and newspapers - over half contain full text and images. Search specific keywords using the Advanced Search or browse subjects using the Subject Guide. Coverage is from 1980 to the present. Allows limiting search results to scholarly journals ("peer-reviewed publications").
JStor college graduate
JStor provides electronic access to the full text of back issues of core journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. Includes 12 classical studies journals, which is good for classical rhetoric research, and other journals of interest to communication studies researchers.
LexisNexis Academic About LexisNexis
LexisNexis Academic is a full-text database containing news, legal, biographical, and business information from over 12,000 publications. Click on Easy Search (default) or Power Search from the General toolbar, or News from the toolbar to search newspapers and other sources. Easy Search does not use Boolean (AND, OR, NOT) operators and searches large groups of the most popular sources. The Power Search or News options allow Boolean logic, searching within specific parts of a document (headline, byline, lead paragraph, etc.), and the ability to search more specific sources. In addition to sources such as "Major U.S. and World Publications," "Major World Publications (non-English)," "blogs," "TV and radio broadcast transcripts" (news broadcasts, political campaigns), and legal or business information in Easy Search, the Power Search or News options include "U.S. Newspapers and Wires," "magazine stories,'" and topical news sources (business, legal, university, and healthcare) among others. For tips on searching for editorials in LexisNexis Academic, see News Search: Find An Editorial Or Opinion Piece. Click Legal to search law reviews, federal and state laws and court cases; click Business to search company information and other related sources; and click People for biographical information. Dates of coverage in LexisNexis vary by publication. NOTE: Due to publisher restrictions, Lexis Nexis Academic users may only access the latest 6 months of the Los Angeles Times. Use Proquest Newspapers for complete coverage of the Los Angeles Times online.
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (CSA) college graduate
LLBA covers all aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Complete coverage is also given to various fields of linguistics including descriptive, historical, comparative, theoretical and geographical linguistics. In addition, major areas of coverage include interpersonal behavior and communication, nonverbal communication, semiotics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics. Over 1,200 periodicals and serials are covered since 1973.
Los Angeles Times, 1985 - present and Los Angeles Times Historical, 1886 - 1985
For researching local communities, newspapers can be an invaluable source. Also searchable within Proquest Newspapers.
Project MUSE college graduate
Project Muse includes full-text scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences, including journals in film, theatre, and performing arts; classics, language, and music. A list of the journals covered by Project MUSE is available.
ProQuest Newspapers
Full text for 500+ U.S. and international news sources. Includes coverage of 150+ major U.S. newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, the Daily News, the New York Times, and the Chicago Tribune, plus hundreds of other news sources and news wires. Click the Publications tab to select individual newspaper titles to browse by date or search by keyword. Click the More Search Options link from the main search screen to reveal choices for limiting by Document Type, such as editorial, speech, and review.
PsycARTICLES (EBSCOHost) college graduate
PsycARTICLES, from the American Psychological Association (APA), is a definitive source of full-text, peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific articles in psychology. The PsycARTICLES database covers general psychology as well as specialized, applied, clinical and theoretical research. The database contains more than 100,000 articles from 59 journals - 48 published by the American Psychological Association (APA) and 11 from allied organizations. It includes all journal articles, letters to the editor, and errata from each journal. Coverage spans 1894 to present, and most APA journals are available from Volume 1, Issue 1.
PsycINFO (EBSCOHost) college graduate
PsycINFO or Psychological Abstracts, from the American Psychological Association (APA), contains nearly 2.3 million citations and summaries of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations, all in psychology and related disciplines, dating as far back as the 1800s. Ninety-seven percent of the covered material is peer-reviewed. Journal coverage, which spans 1887 to present, includes international material selected from approximately 2,050 periodicals in more than 25 languages.
Sage Journals Online college graduate
Full text access to journals in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences, including almost 20 communication and media studies journals.
Sociological Abstracts (CSA) college graduate
Sociological Abstracts abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences from 1963 to present. The database provides abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,700 serials publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Records added after 1974 contain in-depth and non-evaluative abstracts of journal articles.

Locating Periodicals

Finding Books and Media

Books and media may be searched in the Library Catalog by author, title, Library of Congress Subject Heading or keyword. For books not held by the Oviatt Library, request an Interlibrary Loan or search WorldCat to see if other local libraries have the books you need. Relevant subject Headings or keywords include, but are not limited to:

Internet

In addition to the databases and Web sites listed above, the Internet can be a valuable source of information. However, remember to think critically about the authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage of the information you find.

Citing Your Sources

Avoiding Plagiarism

Prepared by Katherine Dabbour, Communication Studies Librarian
California State University, Northridge at 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330 / Phone: 818-677-2285 / © 2012 CSU Northridge
Last Updated: 02-Feb-2011