LibGuides: Communication Research Guide: Web Resources

Web Resources

Here are some of the top resources on the web related to Communication. Below you will find links to the appropriate site with descriptions.

American Rhetoric

A site featuring hundreds of transcriptions,videos, and audioof famous speeches, definitions of rhetoric, and lists of communication journals.

Center for Media Literacy

The CML is an educational organization dedicated to the promotion of media literacy education. Features an overviewdefining media literacy in the 21st century and educational resources.

Critical Commons

Non-profit advocacy coalition that supports the use of media for scholarship, research, and teaching. Its goal is to establish new an innovative ways of tagging and annotating media to create new forms of electronic scholarship. The site features various clips and lectures, which focus on mass media and culture.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.

Google Scholar

_Google Scholar_ provides a search of scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources, including theses, books, articles and abstracts.

Nancy Duarte: The Secret of Great Talks

A free TED video on what makes great speeches. An interesting video for students wishing for help in their own speeches.

Purdue OWL: Logic in Argumentative Writing

A guide provided by Purdue University to assist students with creating logical arguments in their writing.

Google vs the Library

Google vs. the Library

Google is a very familiar and easy to use search engine and it can be a good place to start brainstorming research topics. But when it comes to academic research, the library databases are a better tool. This section will review some important concerns about using Google and introduce you to Google Scholar.

You will need to understand the differences between using Google and library databases to know which search engine to use in your research. Review the table below for a brief comparison between the two repositories of information.

Fields	Google	Library Database
Credibility	Anyone can create a webpage, there is no quality control or editorial process.	Articles are fact-checked, reviewed by editors, or peer reviewed for accuracy.
Limiters	Few (if any) limiters leads to too many results, which means quality information can get buried and it will take you a lot more time to go through the results.	Databases allow you to focus your search results with limiters or filters. These limiters include limiting results by date, publication, subject, graphs, audience, author, and many more.
Cost	Many (if not most) journal articles are not available for free online. Instead, Google will direct you to a website where you can pay for the materials (that the library likely has free access for you).	Library pays for access to scholarly materials that are hidden behind paywalls online and you can use the Interlibrary Loan program to borrow almost any source the library doesn’t currently have.
Algorithms and Confirmation Bias	Search results based on what it thinks you want, algorithms, your search history, and location. This can lead to confirmation bias.	Databases base your results on relevancy and the criteria of your search terms and filters. This makes it easier to find multiple perspectives in your research and prevent confirmation bias.
Search Language	Familiar search engine where you can search sentences or questions in natural language	Not as familiar and you need to select critical keywords phrases, and concepts for your search strategy. You don't use natural language.
Timeliness	Information is constantly updated and will include immediate and current ideas, news events, and topics.	Information is not as immediate. There are many news related databases but some of them materials won't be posted in a database until a few days after they source was originally published.

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is an Internet database that allows you to search for scholarly sources on the Internet and can be a good place to start multidisciplinary research.

Why use Google Scholar?

Language. If I am not getting any results in my library catalog searches but I know that there are sources on my topic, then it's likely that I'm just using the wrong search terms. Sometimes if you use those same search terms in Google Scholar, related articles will appear in the search results. While I can look at those articles, I would also note the keywords in the titles and abstracts. It's a good way to find out what terms professionals are using to write about your topic.
Citation Mining. Google Scholar has a "Cited By" link for most of their results. You can follow these links to see who in their database has cited a specific material. This is a great way to "mine" additional research and discover how professionals responded or reacted to a source. Once you click the "Cited By" link, you can even search within those results for items more specific to your needs.

Accessing Items through Google Scholar

If you click on an article or book from your search results page, Google Scholar will either bring you to a free copy published online or directly to the publisher's website. This website will ask you to pay to access the material. Do not ever purchase articles. Instead you can do one of two things:

Copy and paste the article's title and author into the library catalog search. It is very likely that the library has already paid for access to this item. If the item isn't in the library catalog, go to the Interlibrary Loan page and request the item for free. Don't pay for something if the library can get it for you for free.
If you are accessing Google Scholar while logged into your @myci google account, your search results will be linked to Broome Library's catalog. Simply look for and select the "Get it @ Broome Library" link located to the right of an item.

Pros and Cons of using Google Scholar

As with all Internet resources there are some important pros and cons to keep in mind when using Google Scholar.

Advantages of Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a familiar and easy to use search interface.
Google Scholar searches the Internet for a wide range of materials (articles, books, chapters, conference proceedings, syllabi…).
Google Scholar’s “Related Articles” and “Cited By” tools can help you find other helpful materials (remember citation mining).
If you click directly on a article link, Google Scholar will bring you to the

Disadvantages of Google Scholars

Google Scholar searches across the whole Internet and your search results will include many results irrelevant to your topic.
Google Scholar has very few limiters compared to library databases, most importantly there is no way to limit your results to only scholarly, peer-reviewed materials.
Google Scholar uses the standard Google algorithms to “optimize” your search results based upon your search history, location, and other variables, which may influence your search results and contribute to confirmation bias.
Google Scholar does not notify you if an article has been updated or retracted