Finding Sources
Also known as "Scholarly Articles,", "Peer-Reviewed Articles," or "Academic Articles," these are:
- Written and reviewed by scholars and provide new research, analysis, or information about a specific topic.
- "Review" means the article is approved by other experts before publication
- Usually focused on a narrow subject or a single case study
- Intended for an academic audience
Why You Should Use Them:
- Information is based on research and expertise
- Information is detailed and focused on a narrow topic
- The peer-review process (mostly) insures that the information is accurate
- They add to a growing understanding of a topic by contributing new ideas
Find Communications Articles:
- Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowCMMC offers full text and cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for journals covering communication, mass media, linguistics, discourse, rhetoric, sociolinguistics, communication theory, language, logic, organizational communication and other closely related fields of study.
- Communication Studies Journals This link opens in a new windowContains over 60 journals related to communication education, rhetoric, journalism and western communication to name a few of the titles.
- Film & Television Literature Index w/ Full Text This link opens in a new windowFilm & Television Literature Index is the definitive index to film and television literature. It is a bibliographic database that provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for more than 300 publications, selected coverage of 300 more and full-text E-book coverage. Covers journal and magazine titles for film and television reviews, scholarly and critical analysis of cinema and television, and articles of popular interest about film and television.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowJSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. Coverage includes history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics, humanities and social sciences. Some current issues are available now.
Find Additional Communication Databases & Resources:
We can't list all of the amazing Communications resources that are out there. But we have linked to a lot of them on our Communications Databases & Resources page. So if you need more, check it out!
General Databases:
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowScholarly full-text journals and peer-reviewed journals covering a wide range of subjects. 1975 to present.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowJSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. Coverage includes history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics, humanities and social sciences. Some current issues are available now.
- Project Muse This link opens in a new windowIs a leading provider of digital humanities and social science content for the scholarly community. Includes books and journals.
- Research Library (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowGeneral reference database from business and political science to literature and psychology scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and daily news content, accessible to readers and researchers at every level.
Access All Databases:
Use these resources to find newspaper articles.
Why You Should Use Them:
- May be considered a primary source if written at the time an event occurred
- May include eyewitness or firsthand accounts of events
- Frequently include other primary source objects like photographs, editorials, political cartoons, letters to the editor, advertisements, etc.
Find Newspaper Articles:
- Access World News This link opens in a new windowThis comprehensive news collection cover events at the local, regional, national and international level. This source includes print and online-only newspapers, blogs, newswires, journals, broadcast transcripts and videos. Also includes news articles from 1970-1991, including firsthand reports and varying regional perspectives. (Primary source)
- International Newsstream This link opens in a new windowProvides information from more than 660 of the world's top newspapers, including The Times (London), The Bangkok Post, El Norte, Financial Times, The Guardian, Jerusalem Post, South China Morning Post, The Daily Telegraph, Asian Wall Street Journal, and much more
- PressReader This link opens in a new windowInstant access to 6000+ newspapers and magazines from 120+ countries in 60+ languages. These are usually daily papers; no archives.
- U.S. Newsstream This link opens in a new windowNews content from many national and international newspapers, newswires and selected news magazines. Includes CBS News 60 Minutes transcripts and video from 1997-2014.
Books written by scholars are a good source of information for many topics.
Why You Should Use Them:
- Written on a broad subject
- Easier to read than journal articles, and written for a broad audience
- Often undergo a peer-review process
- May contain a collection of chapters written by different authors
- Contain less recent information, due to the lengthy publication process
Remember: you may only need to read one chapter of a scholarly book!
Find Books:
- Search Belk Library's online system to find both library materials and articles in our databases. Use the search box below to do a basic search on library materials and databases.
Interlibrary Loan:
- Interlibrary LoanIf we don't have the book, chapter or article you need, you can request it here!
- O'Reilly for Higher Education This link opens in a new windowO’Reilly includes tech and business content from more than 250 publishers - along with videos, case studies, expert-curated learning paths and self-assessments on exclusive O'Reilly-produced content from world-renowned innovators and corporate leaders.
- LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) This link opens in a new windowOffers over 10,000 video tutorials on topics across Business (project management, finance & accounting, etc), Technology (web design, game design & development, IT infrastructure, etc.) Creative Skills (3D and animation, motion graphics and VFX, graphic design, etc.) These tutorials are taught by industry experts and are available 24/7.
Performance recordings and interviews with actors and production members are great resources for theatre and performance studies. These are available through several online streaming platforms in the library's database collection.
Why You Should Use Them:
- Get first-person accounts from cast members, directors, playwrights
- Compare different production interpretations
- Study choreography, set design, lighting, and thematic elements up-close
- See behind-the-scenes footage
Find Videos & Images:
- Academic Video Online (AVON) This link opens in a new windowOver 68,000 titles spanning a wide range of subjects: anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more. AVON includes a variety of video material with curricular relevance: documentaries, interviews, feature films, performances, news programs and newsreels, demonstrations, and raw footage.
- Films on Demand Video Collection This link opens in a new windowThousands of high quality videos on business & economics, health & medicine, humanities & social sciences, and science & mathematics, as well as travel and fitness programming, home and how-to videos, indie films, and popular music performances. Includes Oscar, Emmy and Peabody award winning documentaries, interviews, instructional and vocational training videos, historical speeches and newsreels.