Research Guides: Comm 204 Public Speaking: Databases

Search Tips

Once you have identified your Speech topic generate a list of words, or Keywords that are related to your topic. For example, your topic, "school violence and video games? What aspect will you inform your audience?

Use AND, OR, NOT to connect your phrases/keywords

to locate both morality AND norms

to locate either word discourse OR commentary

NOT will retrieve the first word, debate NOT argument

Keywords and phrases for violence: violence, bullying, peer pressure

Keywords and phrases for schools: school, high school, middle school, primary education

Keywords and phrases for video games: electronic games, electronic toys, video games, games

Sample keyword searches for a database:

violence and schools and electronic games

Types of sources:

Academic, Peer Review or Scholarly Journals

Magazines

Trade Publications

Political/History

America: History & Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
covering the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada, with journals from 1860s to present,
Political Database of the Americas (PDBA) This link opens in a new window
Offers information about institutions and political processes, national constitutions, branches of government, elections, political constitutional studies and other subjects related to democracy in the Americas.
It offers information about institutions and political processes, national constitutions, branches of government, elections, political constitutional studies and other subjects related to democracy in the Americas. With more than 1,500 pages of information, it is an important source of relevant to the 35 countries of the region including U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Information is classified according to the themes: Political Constitutions and Comparative Constitutional Studies; Executive Branch; Legislative Branch ; Judicial Branch; Electoral Data and Systems; Political Parties; Decentralization and Local Governance; Democracy and Citizen Security; Indigenous Peoples, Democracy and Political Participation; Civil Society.
Political Extremism and Radicalism This link opens in a new window
Explore diverse content covering fringe political movements, including campaign materials, periodicals, propaganda, and more.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new window
International journals in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration and policy.
Over 1,700 titles are monitored for coverage and, of these, 67% are published outside of the United States.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A growing full text collection of core social science, humanities, and science journals and books.
Historical Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Covers the history of the world from 1450 to the present, including military history, women's history, history of education, and more.
This database provides indexing of historical articles from more than 1,800 journals in over 40 languages back to 1955 and access to the full text of more than 349 journals and more than 120 books.

Addtional databases

Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson) (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Education database (including administration, teaching methods, and curriculum)
ProCon.org This link opens in a new window
Topics such as Sex and Gender, Religion, and Media and Entertainment have at least one pro/con issue. The "for" and "against" text is in two columns, preceded by a "Did you know" and followed by a background essay. Footnotes are embedded in the text with many live links
Topics such as Sex and Gender, Religion, and Media and Entertainment have at least one pro/con issue. The "for" and "against" text is in two columns, preceded by a "Did you know" and followed by a background essay. Footnotes are embedded in the text with many live links.
FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals Plus This link opens in a new window
The world's foremost academic and popular film journals, dating from 1972 onward.
The database also incorporates the International Index to TV Periodicals (1979 - 1998); Treasures from the Film Archives, which identifies silent film holdings in archives around the world, and the International Directory of Film/TV Documentation Collections.
Environment Index This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive database to journal articles covering all aspects of environmental policy and politics.
Urban Studies Abstracts This link opens in a new window
The database contains 40,000 records gathered from legislative groups, research institutions, public research agencies, universities, and scholars from around the world covering essential areas related to urban studies, including urban affairs, community development, urban history, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline. Coverage is from 1973 to the present.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A growing full text collection of core social science, humanities, and science journals and books.
America: History & Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
The definitive index to articles and other literature (books, dissertations, book reviews, etc.) covering the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada, from the 15th century to the present. Indexes nearly 1,800 journals from 1860s to present, including all key journals in the discipline, state and local history publications, and selected articles from scholarly journals in the social sciences and humanities.
Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
Ethnic NewsWatch now includes two collections: 1) Ethnic NewsWatch, a current collection (1990-present) of newspapers,magazines and journals from ethnic and minority presses.
The publications offer both national and regional coverage. 2) Ethnic NewsWatch: A History(1959-1989), which includes over 30 full-text newspapers, magazines and journals, focusing on African American, Hispanic American, and Native American presses from 1959-1989.
Transportation Research Board This link opens in a new window
The TRB Publications Index contains over 21,000 annotated citations for all TRB and Strategic Highway Research Program
All NCHRP and TCRP publications, Special Reports, Circulars, TR News, Conference Proceedings, and Records are included. Each individual paper in the Transportation Research Records, Conference Proceedings, Circulars, and TR News is indexed. Links are provided from citations in the index directly to TRB\'s Electronic Bookstore, a form for ordering out of print publications, or the full text electronic documents.
UrbanRail.Net This link opens in a new window
users will mainly appreciateUrbanRail.Net for its quick, simple maps, but the site put together by aBerlin public transportation enthusiast and historian also features practical information such as transit pricing, links, and timelines of transportation history for each rail service or line.
Users will mainly appreciateUrbanRail.Net for its quick, simple maps, but the site put together by aBerlin public transportation enthusiast and historian also features practical information such as transit pricing, links, and timelines of transportation history for each rail service or line.
ProQuest Criminal Justice Database This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Criminal Justice is a comprehensive database supporting research on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, as well as litigation and crime trends. In addition to scholarly journals, it includes correctional and law enforcement trade publications, crime reports, and other material relevant for researchers or those preparing for careers in criminal justice.
Educational Administration Abstracts This link opens in a new window
personnel, curriculum, school-community relations, supervision, minority group relations, and professional education. Educational levels include: early childhood education, K-12, community colleges, and higher education.
Subjects covered include: personnel, curriculum, school-community relations, supervision, minority group relations, and professional education. Educational levels include: early childhood education, K-12, community colleges, and higher education.
Coverage: 2003 to present

Communication related Research Databases

Many of the databases listed below are subject specific. Can you identify one database that you can search for articles on your topic? Begin your research:

Communication Source This link opens in a new window
Includes articles from peer-reviewed journals and trade magazines covering mass media, marketing, communications, and related topics.

ProQuest Research -Multiple Database
ProQuest Multiple Databases is a multi-disciplinary index suitable for both undergraduates and graduate students. It simultaneously searches dozens of subject areas, indexes thousands of general and scholarly titles, and provides full-text for a significant number of the articles included from a variety of contemporary research databases. It is an excellent starting place for research for a paper, particularly if one isn't sure where to begin their research.
Alt-HealthWatch
Alt-HealthWatch is a full-text and image database focusing on the many perspectives of complementary, holistic and integrated approaches to healthcare and wellness. It offers nearly 50,000 articles from 160 international peer-reviewed journals, academic and professional publications, magazines, reports, proceedings, association and consumer newsletters, plus hundreds of pamphlets, booklets, original research and book excerpts.
ABI/INFORM Complete
The most comprehensive ABI/INFORM™ database, this comprises ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Trade and Industry, and ABI/INFORM Dateline. The database features thousands of full-text journals, dissertations, working papers, key business and economics periodicals such as the Economist, country-and industry-focused reports, and downloadable data.

ProCon.org This link opens in a new window
Topics such as Sex and Gender, Religion, and Media and Entertainment have at least one pro/con issue. The "for" and "against" text is in two columns, preceded by a "Did you know" and followed by a background essay. Footnotes are embedded in the text with many live links.
Topics such as Sex and Gender, Religion, and Media and Entertainment have at least one pro/con issue. The "for" and "against" text is in two columns, preceded by a "Did you know" and followed by a background essay. Footnotes are embedded in the text with many live links.
PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
Abstract and citation database of scholarly literature in psychological, social, behavioral, and health sciences. Includes journal articles, books, reports, theses, and dissertations from 1806 to present.
CQ Press Electronic Library This link opens in a new window
An integrated search environment for obtaining analysis on Congressional issues in the news and coverage of the status of bills, votes and amendments, floor and committee activity, and backroom maneuvering.
This database searches the full-text of CQ Weekly, CQ Researcher, CQ Historic Documents, contact directories, a variety of reference books, and selected datasets focused on issues in U.S. politics and areas of public policy, such as, health care, education, economics, bioethics, environment, and society. Contents are created by more than 125 Capitol Hill reporters, editors, and researchers to provide non-partisan coverage and detailed analysis of issues facing Congress on a daily basis. Coverage is from 1972 to the present.
GenderWatch This link opens in a new window
GenderWatch features publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas including media, health sciences, political science, and more.
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Interdisciplinary collection of journal articles, conference proceedings, and books. Collection of seven online database: Conference Proceedings Citation Index, Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Index Chemicus, Current Chemical Reactions, and Book Citation Index. Coverage is 1900-present.

Sociological Abstracts
Sociological Abstracts Database is a primary resource for accessing the latest research sponsored in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database draws information from an international selection of over 2,600 journals and other serials publications, etc...

EBSCOhost Business Abstracts with Full Text (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new window
Business Abstracts with Full Text offers a multitude of business magazines and scholarly journals.
This comprehensive database contains the full text of articles from more than 510 key publications dating back to 1995, and provides access to product evaluations, interviews, biographical sketches, corporate profiles, obituaries, surveys, statistical rankings, book reviews and reports from associations, societies, trade shows, conferences and more. Part of the OmniFile collection.

Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
Education Full Text™ provides full text of articles from over 350 journals as far back as 1996, in addition to indexing of more than 770 periodicals dating back to 1983. Content includes in-depth coverage of special education and more than 100,000 controlled and cross-referenced names of educational tests.

LGBTQ+ Source This link opens in a new window
LGBT Life is the premier resource to the world's literature regarding Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Transsexual issues.
Comprehensive coverage includes traditional academic, lifestyle, and regional publications, as well as non-periodical content such as non-fiction books, bibliographies and dissertations. Disciplines include athletics, health, law, sociology, family, religion, civil liberties, employment and entertainment.
SPORTDiscus This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive database for sports & sports medicine literature. Includes international literature, conference proceedings, audiovisuals and more. Coverage dates back to 1985.
Environment Index This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive database to journal articles covering all aspects of environmental policy and politics.
Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) This link opens in a new window
The Homeland Security Digital Library is composed of homeland security documents related to homeland security policy, strategy, and organizational management collected from a wide variety of sources.
These include federal, state, tribal, and local government agencies, professional organizations, think tanks, academic institutions, and international governing bodies. Resources are carefully selected and evaluated by a team of librarians and subject-matter specialists.
Statista This link opens in a new window
Statista is one of the first statistic portals in the world to integrate data on over 80.000 topics from over 18.000 sources onto a single professional platform and providing companies, business customers, research institutions, and the academic community with direct access to quantitative data on media, business, finance, politics, and a wide variety of other areas of interest or markets.
Bloomsbury Fashion Central This link opens in a new window
Bloomsbury Fashion Central is a dynamic digital hub for interdisciplinary research in fashion and dress. Includes the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, an extensive E-Book collection, a vast image bank, and links to related reference resources.

Evaluating Sources

In the research process, evaluating sources is vital. Consider the following questions in order to effectively evaluate and gain a more critical understanding of your sources.

Author Authority
Who created the item? What is his or her affiliation? What is his or her relationship to the information contained in the source?

Audience and Purpose
Who is the intended audience? Why was the item created?

Accuracy and Completeness
Is the evidence reliable? Are the important points covered? How does the source compare to other similar sources? What may have been left out?

Footnotes and Documentation
Are the author's sources in secondary and reference literature clearly identified with complete citations to allow you to find the original source yourself?

Perspective and Bias
How do the author's bias and perspective inform the arguments and evidence presented?

Adapted from NYU's Primary Sources LibGuide and The Information-Literate Historian by Jenny L. Presnell (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).