Media and Communication Graduate Courses: Databases

Databases are collections of scholarly articles or other resources. They are usually subject-specific, like Communication & Mass Media Complete, the premier database for all communication research. Alternatively, it has become more popular to search multiple databases at once using a generic EBSCO or Summon search. The advantages of this approach are that it's easy to get started and the number of search results is increased because of the interdisciplinary approach. The downside is if you want to ensure that your results are relevant to your area/discipline of study.  

Usually, you want to start with a database when you are searching for a topic. If you are interested in browsing research to get ideas for topics or to just learn new developments in the field, you should start with the journals tab of this guide. Also, start with journals if you already have a citation for a specific article. 

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) can be a great resource when searching for Academic Journal articles. However, many of the articles it discovers are not freely available on the internet, though you might have access through BGSU University Libraries. How do you know which articles BGSU provides access to? Set your Google Scholar Library Links Setting to Bowling Green State University - Find it! at BGSU.

From the Google Scholar search page, open the menu on the top left corner and select Settings (depending on screen size, you might just see a cog icon). Then click on Library Links and search for, select, and save Bowling Green State University - Find It! at BGSU.  

Now on your Google Scholar results list, a Find it! at BGSU link will appear when the article is available through a BGSU subscription.