STCM 10300: Intro to Strategic Communication
- Guide: Objectives
- Finding a Citation
- Database Selection
- Browse Journals for Strat Com
- Keep informed
- Research Strategy Worksheet
- Videos
- FAQs
- Evaluating Websites, Media Relations
- Contact Us
- Writing and Research
- Ethics
- Search Books, e-books, and videos
- CMD Browse books & videos
- IMC Browse books & videos
- PR Browse books & videos
This Guide will cover basic skills for collecting information such as:
- How to find a citation
- Selecting a database
- Planning your search strategy
- Sample searches for types of information: Biography, News, Business, & Websites
- How to find and use library research help guides to select databaes and for writing and research help
- Gaining an awareness of professional ethics
You want to find this citation:
Walsh, J., & McAllister-Spooner, S. M. (2011). Analysis of the image repair discourse in the Michael Phelps controversy. Public Relations Review, 37(2), 157-162. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.01.001
Walsh, J., & McAllister-Spooner, S. M. (2011). Analysis of the image repair discourse in the Michael Phelps controversy. Public Relations Review, 37(2), 157-162. doi:10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.01.001
- Examine your citation and determine the journal title (NOT the article title). In this case it is the Public Relations Review.
- Click on the Articles tab on the library's homepage. Under the "Journals" box, type your title in the box after "Title begins with" and click go. You'll access a screen displaying the library's fulltext access to either print, microfilm, or electronic resources. If there is none, you'll see a link to borrow the article via Interlibrary Loan.
- Examine the volume and year of your citation. The volume in the citation above is 37 and it was published in 2011. Compare this information to the fulltext holdings. ScienceDirect Journals has the Public Relations Review from 1995 to present.
- Click on ScienceDirect Journals, and then browse for the title (8th in this issue) OR you can use the article search box at the top of the page. This should bring your right to the fulltext! If you did not receive results, double-check your spelling.
Look at Research Guides by Subject to help in database selection. Many library subject guides list out top resources for each subject area. It is good to search two or three databases as each databases indexes a different group of journals, magazines and newspapers (there is typically some overlap):
Related Strat Com guides:
Related Strat Com guides:
- Communication Management & Design a broad subject guide
- Crisis Communications a guide for a class
- Demographics a guide specific to demographic information
- How to Research an Industry a guide by Jim Bondra, Business Librarian
- Integrated Marketing Communications a broad subject guide
- Marketing a broad subject guide by Jim Bondra, Business Librarian
- Public Relations a broad subject guide
- Communication and Mass Media Complete (CMMC) Indexes journals in the field of communications. EBSCO Interface.
- Business Source Premier (Original Interface) Indexes journals in the field of business. EBSCO Interface.
- ABI/INFORM Complete Indexes journals in the field of business. ProQuest interface.
- ScienceDirect This is a "journal collection" rather than an aggregated database. All the content is by one publisher: Elsevier. It has a lot of good public relations journals, however.
- LexisNexis Academic Use the News and Companies tab.
- Business Insights: Essentials If you need company, industry or association information, this is a good start. Compare it to LexisNexis's Companies tab. Note that information from trade association websites can be helpful.
Lists of fulltext journals by category:
Specific journal titles that might be of interest. You can set up content alerts through the databases. Sometimes you may wish to set up alerts via the publisher's website:
Specific journal titles that might be of interest. You can set up content alerts through the databases. Sometimes you may wish to set up alerts via the publisher's website:
- Academy of Management learning & education
- Advertising Age - publisher's website AdAge
- Brandweek
- Communication Education
- Communication Theory
- Communication World
- Communication Yearbook
- Design Issues
- Educational Media International
- Educational Technology
- Educational Technology Research and Development
- Harvard business review
- Human Communication Research
- Human Resource Development Quarterly
- Human Resource Management
- Innovations in Education and Teaching International
- Interactive Design Annual (part of Communication Arts)
- International Journal of Instructional Media
- International Journal of Strategic Communication
- Journal of Advertising Education
- Journal of Communication
- Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
- Journal of Distance Education
- Journal of Educational Technology Systems
- Journal of Employee Communication Management
- Journal of Instruction Delivery Systems
- Journal of International Communication
- Journal of Marketing Communications
- Journal of Public Relations Research
- Journal of Visual Literacy
- Management Communication Quarterly
- PRweek (U.S. ed.)
- Performance Improvement (ISPI)
- Performance improvement quarterly
- Public Relations Quarterly
- Public Relations Review
- Ragan Report
- Social Marketing Quarterly
- Strategic Communication Management
- T+D
- Training
- Visual Communication Quarterly
Try and identify top journals or newswires in your field and set up email or RSS alerts. Alerts can be done directly from the journals website. For example, if you are interested in integrated marketing communications, set up an alert to AdAge . Library databases offer alerts but require you to create accounts; library databases may offer fulltext holdings whereas the online journal may offer partial full-text to non-subscribers.
- RSS for Research: expains how RSS works (by Ron Gilmour, Science Librarian)
- Integrated Marketing Communications: Try AdAge, AAF, or MediaPost
- Public Relations: Try Ragan's PR Daily News or PR Newswire (RSS feed)
- Communications Management: Try Melcrum or SmartBlog on Leadership
LexisNexis maintains a wiki of help screens to their product. The library subscribes to an Academic product for colleges and university. There are other professional and subscription products sold to practitioners; the content may differ based on what is licensed.
Constructing searches: you may need to limit your results using boolean search operators or searching specific sections of a document:
Constructing searches: you may need to limit your results using boolean search operators or searching specific sections of a document:
- Boolean searching This page lists and defines proximity operators such as w/p (words within the same paragraph), w/s (words within the same sentence), atleast (you can say you want a word to appear atleast5 -- at least 5 times in the article which increases the relevancy), etc.
- Document Sections Some sections like Headline are built in the search form. If you want to search by byline, city, company geographic region, person, publication, etc. you may have to write a command search. This page lists common news and legal document sections that you can try searching on.
Access this page in MS Word: Research Strategy Worksheet 
1. Write down your research topic / story idea and circle the keywords:
1. Write down your research topic / story idea and circle the keywords:
2. Consider the key words you've circled. Are there broader, narrower or related terms that can be searched? Write down these alternative keywords and use them to write a search strategy. Like terms are ORd together.
KEYWORDS:
SEARCH STRATEGY:
3. What are the subjects of the terms? Write down 1 or 2 subjects and corresponding databases. Subjects can be: art, business, politics, science, etc.
SUBJECT 1: SELECT THIS DATABASE:
SUBJECT 2: SELECT THIS DATABASE:
4. Consider how you can use a variety of sources for your story idea. If you're not sure, consult with Cathy.
TYPES OF RESOURCES | EXAMPLES OF SPECIFIC RESOURCES |
REFERENCE (Generally: biographies, dictionaries, directories, almanacs, encyclopedias, etc.) | |
BOOKS | |
JOURNAL ARTICLES | |
BIOGRAPHICAL RESOURCES | |
WEBSITES: Organizational & governmental information | Thomas (legislation) http://thomas.loc.gov/ Policy Archive: (think tanks): http://www.policyarchive.org/ Google Blog Search (opinions) http://www.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en |
LEGAL RESOURCE | LexisNexis Academic (case law, codes, law reviews) |
BUSINESS RESOURCES | |
NEWSPAPERS & TRANSCRIPTS | LexisNexis (national and international news & transcripts) New York State Newspapers SPECIALTY (Ethnic Newswatch , Alternative Press Index , GenderWatch ) |
| STATISTICS & Polls | Statistical Abstract of the United States REF HA202 .U5 Polling the Nations U.S. Census Bureau |
Video Search Engine
Blinkx
Video search engine.
Videos: Conferences, Podcast, and Business Presentations
Blinkx
Video search engine.
Videos: Conferences, Podcast, and Business Presentations
- FORA.tv
Streaming video of lectures in politics, business, technology, the world, and culture, from academics, think tanks, authors, politicians, etc. Some videos are free and some are pay-per-view. - Pop!Tech Pop!Casts
Pop!Tech is a conference of big thinkers on science, technology & the future of ideas. Subscribe to Pop!Cast videos or audio Pop!Casts via iTunes. - TED : Ideas worth spreading
Nonprofit that sponsors a conference that explores Technololgy, Entertainment, and Design. The annual TED prize offers "One Wish to Change the World" in addition to a monetary award. The organization also sponsors TED Talks (disemminating "Ideas worth spreading" online).
- I need to find and research nonprofit organizations.
- I need to find consumer information about products--who uses them and how frequently.
- I need to find the age breakdown and definitions of various age groups such as Baby Boomers, Millennials, Generation Y, etc.
- Where can I find advertising rates for various media channels?
- Where can I find an association related to the topic of my paper or presentation?
- Where can I find business case studies?
- Where can I find demographic data for a particular magazine or newspaper?
- Where can I find population and demographic breakdown for US cities, counties, states and the United States?
- Where can I find ratings data for advertising, television and radio?
- Where can I find various Corporate Social Responsibility or Sustainability Reports or links?
Use the following criteria:
- Accuracy: can you spot spelling errors or “fishy” statements?
- Authority: who wrote the information on the website? Is the author/s a professional or professional organization? Try and find out more about them.
- Objectivity: after reading about the purpose for the site, does the author or organization have a point of view that might slant or present information falsely? Check the “about” page). Is there a political slant? Are there advertisements; is someone trying to sell you an idea or product?
- Currency: when was the website last updated? Check the bottom of the page. Are there broken links? When was the latest information posted?
- Appearance and layout: does it appear professionally arranged? Does it load with ease?
Question everything, but generally official U.S./state government (.gov) and education (.edu) sites are more trustworthy than commercial (.com) and personal websites.
Note that big corporations will often have a Media Relations page; for example, here is one from Netflix. Also look for Media Relations when seeking experts at colleges and universities; for example here is Ithaca College's Media Relations page. Organizations will also have contacts; for example, Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood. Government representatives always have multiple ways to contact them; for example Rep. Maurice Hinchey, or, the Department of Enviornmental Conservation. Seek a variety of perspectives from people in business, government, academic, as well as individual citizens.
Note that big corporations will often have a Media Relations page; for example, here is one from Netflix. Also look for Media Relations when seeking experts at colleges and universities; for example here is Ithaca College's Media Relations page. Organizations will also have contacts; for example, Campaign for a Commercial-free Childhood. Government representatives always have multiple ways to contact them; for example Rep. Maurice Hinchey, or, the Department of Enviornmental Conservation. Seek a variety of perspectives from people in business, government, academic, as well as individual citizens.
Library Writing and Research guides:
- Finding Articles: This guide has screen shots to help you.
- Types of Journals: What is the difference betwen trade and scholarly?
- Search Strategies: Discusses search strategy construction including Boolean search language and truncation.
- Best Practices in Research Confused about Plagairism? This guide has a tutorial.
- Noodlebib Users' Guide: Use Noodlebib to assist you in citing sources.
- Writing and Citing: This is a tab on the library's website that includes self-help learning widgets, links to citation manuals and citing software, and additional guides for scholarly writing.
Many professional organizations and industry associations develop ethics standards and guidelines or offer tips; here is a selection:
Communication Management & Design
Marketing & Advertising
Roy L Moore,Advertising and public relations law (2nd ed. 2011). Contents: Chapter 1 The First Amendment; Chapter 2 The Development of the Commercial Speech Doctrine; Chapter 3 Public Interest Information as Commercial Speech; Chapter 4 Defamation, Product Disparagement and Related Torts; Chapter 5 Invasion of Privacy: False Light, Private Facts, Intrusion and Other Related Torts; Chapter 6 Invasion of Privacy: Misappropriation and Right of Publicity; Chapter 7 Copyright; Chapter 8 Patents and Trademarks; Chapter 9 Other Ways to Protect "Ideas"
Communication Management & Design
- Academy of Management: Code of Ethics
- AECT A Code of Professional Ethics (for purchase)
- AIGA Design Business and Ethics & Standards for Professional Practice
- IABC Code of Ethics
- ICA & the Center for Social Media: Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Use in Scholarly Communication
- ISES (special events society) Principles of Professional Conduct and Ethics
- NCA: Communication Ethics Division
Marketing & Advertising
- iab: Guidelines, Standards & Best Practices
- Self-Regulation in the Alcohol Industry
- Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising
- Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU)
- National Advertising Review Council
Roy L Moore,Advertising and public relations law (2nd ed. 2011). Contents: Chapter 1 The First Amendment; Chapter 2 The Development of the Commercial Speech Doctrine; Chapter 3 Public Interest Information as Commercial Speech; Chapter 4 Defamation, Product Disparagement and Related Torts; Chapter 5 Invasion of Privacy: False Light, Private Facts, Intrusion and Other Related Torts; Chapter 6 Invasion of Privacy: Misappropriation and Right of Publicity; Chapter 7 Copyright; Chapter 8 Patents and Trademarks; Chapter 9 Other Ways to Protect "Ideas"
Use the Advanced Search of the library's catalog to search by keyword: Use the catalog for books we own; use Worldcat for books we don't own.
- Search the Library Catalog: advanced search
- Books we don't own we can borrow. Try searching Worldcat and then click on the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) request link. WorldCat (via FirstSearch)
- Click on subject headings to find books and ebooks in the IC Library
Click on a subject heading to find books, e-books, and videos in the Ithaca College Library catalog.
- Advertising, Political--United States
- Blogs Political aspects
- Business communication
- Business ethics
- Business presentations.
- Communication in management
- Communication in organizations
- Communication in politics
- Communication Political aspects
- Complex organizations Management
- Complexity (Philosophy)
- Crisis management
- Education Simulation methods
- Educational technology
- Employees Training of
- Graphic design
- Instructional systems Design
- Intercultural communication
- International organization
- Leadership
- Mass media Political aspects
- Non-governmental organizations
- Organizational effectiveness
- Organizational change
- Personnel management
- Persuasion (Psychology)
- Propaganda
- Public relations
- Simulation games in education
- Social learning
- Social responsibility of business
- Telecommunication
- Type and type-founding
- Video games and children
- Web-based instruction Design
- Advertising Pictorial works
- Advertising, Political--United States
- Advertising--Psychological aspects.
- Baby boom generation.
- Brand name products
- Commercial art Pictorial works
- Communication in marketing
- Consumer behavior
- Consumers United States Statistics
- Consumers' preferences
- Consumption (Economics) United States Statistics
- Demographic surveys
- Demographic surveys United States Statistics
- Direct marketing
- Generation X
- Generation Y (Millennials, Net generation)
- Industrial marketing
- Interactive marketing
- Internet marketing
- Leisure Statistics
- Lifestyles Statistics
- Market segmentation
- Market surveys United States
- Marketing decision making
- Marketing management
- Mobile commerce
- Motivation research (Marketing)
- New products
- New Strategist Publications (demographic book series)
- Product managment
- Social marketing
- Strategic planning
- Target marketing
- Television programs United States Rating
- Young adult consumers
- Blogs
- Brand name products
- Branding (Marketing)
- Business communication
- Communication in management
- Communication in organizations
- Communication in politics
- Corporate culture
- Corporate image
- Corporations Public relations United States
- Corporations--Corrupt practices
- Crisis management
- Emergency communication systems
- Emergency management
- Industrial publicity
- Mass media and business
- Personnel management
- Project managment
- Personnel management
- Public relations firms
- Public relations Management
- Public relations Moral and ethical aspects
- Public relations Evaluation
- Public relations Social aspects
- Risk management
- Social media
- Strategic planning
