Communication: Home

Online resources for research in communication

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Welcome! Please use the tabs on the left to find recommended library resources and beyond for Communication. For more assistance please don't hesitate to use the options in the box below to request help through online chat, email, or schedule a consult with a librarian (by going into the "Social Sciences" group).

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DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS FOR UC LIBRARY SEARCH

Accessing Electronic Resources?

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To access library resources from off-campus:

Option 1: Connect through UC Library Search

Option 2: Sign in at a Publisher or Resource Site

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For help with troubleshooting, visit our Connect to Library Resources page.

Best Bets!

This page is a starting point for finding databases, websites and other digital collections for Communication. You'll find sites useful for research or to browse: core databases for finding articles, news sites, reference tools, streaming video, much more.

Use the tabs at the top of the page to browse others.

Be sure to have your VPN set up for ease of access.

Communication & Mass Media Complete
Coverage varies, but some back to early 1900s. Articles in communication, mass media, linguistics, and film studies. CMMC offers cover-to-cover ("core") indexing and abstracts for over 370 journals, and selected ("priority") coverage of over 230 more, for a combined coverage of over 600 titles. Many journals have indexing, abstracts, PDFs and searchable cited references from their first issues to the present (dating as far back as 1915).
Communication Abstracts
NOTE: Institution-wide access to this resource will end on December 31, 2025. 1963-present. Abstracts articles, reports, papers, books from a variety of publishers and research institutions in all areas of communication studies (mass, interpersonal and new communication technologies).
Access World News
More than 1500 sources worldwide, including 650 in the U.S. Largely newspapers,local news video for the U.S.; newspapers for Canada, UK and other English-speaking countries. For the rest of the world mostly wire services, BBC news digests

Vanderbilt Television News Archive
1968-present. Browse or search summaries of evening network news programs for ABC, CBS and NBC from 1968, CNN from 1995, Fox News from 2004. Streaming video for CNN and NBC only. From the video archives maintained by Vanderbilt University.
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
Over 3,800 articles spread over broad subject areas from Adolescence and Youth to Urban Studies; 100 separate articles under Media alone.
Encyclopedia of Journalism
All dimensions of journalism, including print, broadcast, Internet; US & international perspectives; history; technology; legal issues & court cases; ownership & economics. Published 2009 under direction of Christopher Sterling. Print version is 6 volumes
American Memory
Library of Congress digital library of primary source and archival material relating to American culture and history: print, manuscripts, photographs, moving pictures and recorded sound. More than 150 collections and growing.
American History in Video
Coverage of historical events through documentaries, commercial and government newsreels, and archival and public affairs footage. When finished will include 1200 titles, 2000 hours of video.
Internet Archive: Moving Images
Movies from the Prelinger Archive showing American everyday life, culture, industry, and institutions in the 20thC. Downloadable MPEG-2.

AdViews
A digital archive of thousands of television commercials dating from the 1950s to the 1980s. A project of the Duke University Library.

Living Room Candidate: A History of Presidential Campaign Commercials, 1952-2008
Can't wait for 2012? See video of presidential campaign commercials from 1952 to 2008. More than 300 digitized commercials are presented, along with analysis, historical background, and results from each election.
Library Resources for Communication Studies
Lists resources & links for the diverse fields of Communication: news, indexes, organizations, subject guides (advertising, journalism, media diversity, media law, new media, political communication, etc). Maintained by American Library Association Committee on Electronic Resources in Communication Studies

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Sections on News Sources and Indexes & Abstracts created by UCSD's Communication Librarian
Dissertations and Theses
1861-present. Database of citations to doctoral dissertations & master's theses from 1,000+ universities. Full-text of most UC dissertations published 1996 and later. Most others available on Interlibrary Loan.

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Recommend a Purchase of print or e-versions of books, films, or any other kind of resource