Popular Culture and Communication

Need help with your research? Contact:

Jen Jarson
Social Sciences Reference Librarian
phone: x3552
email: jarson [at] muhlenberg [dot] edu
IM: jjarson1 (for AIM and Yahoo; add @hotmail.com for MSN)

Need help after hours?
IM the Library at TalkToTrexler (for AIM and Yahoo; add @hotmail.com for MSN)
Online Sunday-Thursday 2pm-10pm.
See Ask a Librarian for more information and other ways to get help.

Selected Reference Materials

Blanchard, M.A. (1998). History of the mass media in the United States: An encyclopedia. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 302.230973 B639h (Level A)

Cayton, M.K., Gorn, E.J., & Williams, P.W. (Eds.). (1993). Encyclopedia of American social history. New York: Scribner; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York: Maxwell Macmillan International.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 301.0973 E56o v.1-3 (Level A)

Inge, M.T., & Hall, D. (Eds.). (2002). Greenwood guide to American popular culture. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 973 G816g v.1-4 (Level A)

Kutler, S. (Ed.). (1996). Encyclopedia of the United States in the twentieth century. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 973.003 E56o v.1-5 (Level A)

Newcomb, H. (Ed.).  (2004).  Encyclopedia of television (2nd ed.).  New York: Fitzroy Dearborn. 
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 384.5503 E56o (Level A)

Pendergast, T., & Pendergast, S. (Eds.). (2000). St. James encyclopedia of popular culture. Detroit, MI : St. James Press.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 973.9 S143j v.1-5 (Level A)

Rose, C. (Ed.). (2004). American decades primary sources. Detroit: Gale.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 973.92 A512dp v.1-10 (Level A)

Tompkins, V. (Ed.). (1994-2001). American decades. Detroit: Gale.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Collection 973.92 A512d v.1-10 (Level A)

Finding Articles

To access these and other article databases from the Library Homepage, use the Databases A-Z link (in the Quick Links box).

SCHOLARLY INFORMATION

Communication Studies Databases

Communication and Mass Media Complete
Scholarly journals and monographs in the areas of communication and mass media.  Note: Also contains trade publications.  To narrow to just scholarly information, use the academic journals and other Source Type limits (left sidebar) on the search results page. 

Sage Journals Online
Full-text access to over 500 journals published by Sage, providing wide coverage of scholarly publications in all disciplines, but particularly the social sciences.

Related Databases (See Databases A-Z for all library article databases.)

America History and Life
The definitive database for U.S. and Canadian history, indexing journals, books, and dissertations.

MLA International Bibliography
Standard scholarly index to criticism in the areas of literature, language, linguistics, film studies, and folklore, published from 1920-present.

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature
Index to scholarly and popular literature in musicology, ethnomusicology, dance, and other music-related disciplines.

Sociological Abstracts
Provides access to the latest research in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences.

Interdisciplinary Databases

Academic Search Premier
Full text access to scholarly publications in a wide variety of disciplines and subject areas.  Note: Also contains non-scholarly publications.  To narrow to just scholarly information, use the academic journals Source Type limits (left sidebar) on the search results page. 

JSTOR
Full text of scholarly journals from most academic disciplines. Coverage is from the inception of the journal through three to five years ago.

OmniFile (WilsonWeb)
A database with some full text articles covering various academic subjects including general sciences, humanities, social sciences, and business.  Note: Also includes popular texts.  To narrow to just scholarly sources, use the peer reviewed limit option on the search screen or results page. 

Project MUSE
A full-text database with journal articles in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

POPULAR INFORMATION

Magazine and Newspaper Databases

Academic Search Premier
Full text access to non-scholarly publications in a wide variety of disciplines and subject areas.  Note: Also contains scholarly publications.  To narrow to just popular information, use the magazines and newspapers Source Type limits (left sidebar) on the search results page. 

Alternative Press Index
Indexes publications covering cultural, economic, political & social change. Includes indexing from nearly 300 alternative, radical and left periodicals, newspapers and magazines.

Communication and Mass Media Complete
Trade journals in the areas of communication and mass media.  Note: Also contains scholarly publications.  To narrow to just trade journals, use the magazines Source Type limit (left sidebar) on the search results page. 

LexisNexis Academic
Deep archives and full text of all major newspapers worldwide, plus many local U.S. papers.

OmniFile (WilsonWeb)
A database with some full text articles covering general popular text sources.  Note: Also includes various scholarly publications.  To narrow to just popular sources, use the non-peer reviewed limit options on the search screen or results page. 

News Websites

Google News (http://news.google.com/)
Search across thousands of English-language news sources worldwide.

Yahoo News (http://news.yahoo.com/)
Aggregated portal of news sources.

Blog Search Engines

Google Blog Search (http://blogsearch.google.com/)
"Your results include all blogs, not just those published through Blogger; our blog index is continually updated, so you'll always get the most accurate and up-to-date results." .

Technorati (http://technorati.com/)
"Technorati index[es] more than 1.5 million new blog posts in real time."

GETTING THE ARTICLES

  1. When searching for articles in library databases, you may find the full-text of an article linked in the database.
  2. If not, you need to search the Trexler Library Catalog to see if we own the journal in which the article is published.
    • Most databases have a Get It! link embedded. Click the link to check our holdings.
    • Otherwise, search the catalog by journal title or by ISSN . Verify that we have online, print, or microform access to the year/volume you need.
  3. If we do not own the journal you need, request the article via Interlibrary Loan.
    • Some databases have a Request on Interlibrary Loan link embedded. Click the link to fill out the form. Click Submit.
    • Otherwise, use the Interlibrary Loan Journal Article Request Form (Library Homepage  --  Interlibrary Loan (in the Quick Links box)  --  Articles request form). Fill out the form with as much information as possible. Ask for help, if you have questions.

Finding Books

TREXLER LIBRARY

Search the Trexler Library Catalog to find out what books, government publications, journals, videos, etc. the library owns.

GETTING THERE: Use the shortcut search box on the Library Homepage or Library Homepage  --  Library Catalogs (in the Quick Links box)  --  Trexler Library Catalog

OTHER LIBRARIES

WorldCat. To find books held by other libraries, search WorldCat, a database of over 60 million library records from around the country and world. Use the ILL button to request a book from another library. (ILL can take 10-14 days.)

GETTING THERE: Library Homepage  --  Library Catalogs (in Quick Links box)  --  Other Library Catalogs -- WorldCat

Citing Your Sources

For information on APA Style, consult the following resources.

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed. Washington, DC: APA, 2010.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Desk Reserve 808.06615 P976m 2010 (at Reference Desk)

Concise Rules of APA Style, 6th ed.  Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2010.
Call Number: Trexler Library Reference Desk Reserve 808.06615 C744r 2010 (at Reference Desk)

Trexler Library handout on using APA style: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/reshelp/apa_example.pdf

Writer's Handbook (University of Wisconsin--Madison)
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html

© Muhlenberg College
Last modified: 27 October 2009