Communication
research guide

UI Library Website: www.lib.uidaho.edu

If you need additional help with your research, try:

• Ask a Librarian (email reference)
• Research Assistance Program (RAP)
• Visit the Information Desk on the 1st floor of the Library or call 208-885-6584

The reference section can be the best place to start your research. 

Use reference works to:

Get an overview or background information on a topic 

• Get ideas for focusing your own research
• Find bibliographies of more in-depth sources
• Find quick facts and statistics
• Find biographical information

How To Use The Reference Section

The reference section is located on the 1st floor of the library. Because it is a fairly small area, browsing the shelves in the general area of your topic is a quick way to look for relevant material. Books are shelved using the Library of Congress classification scheme. Reference works (both print and electronic) can also be found by searching the library catalog. Remember to make your search terms general as reference works tend to have broad coverage. For example, a keyword search using "nonverbal" and "handbook" finds two handbooks with coverage of “nonverbal communication”.

Selected Reference Works for Communication

Books may contain a broad overview of a topic or an in-depth exploration of a topic. Books range from popular to scholarly and as with all sources, you should be aware of the author's credentials. 

Keep in Mind:

• Books on a broad topic may contain chapters or essays on your topic. Often these are not indicated by the title. When searching, think both broadly and narrowly. 
• Check the index of a book to find your subject.
• The bibliography in a book can be a great place to find additional sources.

Searching for Books

To search for books in our library, type your search terms in the box below:

Search the Library Catalog to find books located at the UI Library, the UI Women's Center (in Memorial Gym) the UI Law Library, NIC (North Idaho College, Coeur d'Alene), and LCSC (Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston). To get a book listed in the catalog that is in another library, from the record for the book, use the “Request” link at the top of the page.  The book will be delivered to the library within a few days and you will be notified by email to pick it up at the Circulation Desk.

For help with searching the catalog, see the Searching for Books Library Guide or view the flash video How to use the Online Catalog: Basic. 

Search WorldCat to find any book at all in libraries throughout the world, then use the “Order from Interlibrary Loan” link from the record for the book to place an ILL request for the item.  Delivery may take a week or two.

Browsing for Books

Several areas of the library Main Stacks can be useful places to browse for books.  These include:

BF636 - BF637 Applied psychology

BF637.C45 Communication. Interpersonal communication

BF637.N66 Nonverbal communication.

HM Sociology

HM 44-44.5 Communication in sociology (before 2000)

HM 131-134 Association. Mutuality. Social Groups (before 2000)

HM 132 Interpersonal relations (before 2000)

HM 251-258 Social psychology (before 2000)

HM 258 Communication (before 2000)

HM 561-567 Communication of information (since 2000)

HM 716-753 Social groups. Group dynamics (since 2000)

HM 1001-1281 Social psychology (since 2000)

HM 1013-1017 Communication of information (since 2000)

HM 1106-1171 Interpersonal relations. Social behavior(since 2000)

HM 1166 Interpersonal communication (since 2000)

HM 1206-1211 Communication. Mass media (since 2000)

P1-P1091 Philology. Linguistics

P87-96 Communication. Mass media

Articles are found in periodicals.  Examples of periodicals are magazines, journals, and newspapers. Scholarly (also called peer-reviewed or refereed) journals are one of the primary means of disseminating ideas in academic scholarship. 

If you are unsure how to differentiate between a scholarly journal and a popular magazine, see:
http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/instruction/difference.htm

Articles are located by searching for your topic in an article database (sometimes called an article index). First, select an appropriate database from the Library Find Articles page. Click on the  symbol next to the database title for information about the coverage of the database. 

After selecting a database to search, type in search terms. Articles are generally more specific than books and may require a narrower search.

IMPORTANT SEARCH TIP:  If you are not getting the results you want from your search:

• Try different search terms or different combinations of terms
• Use the advanced search to limit your search to “subjects”
• Try a different database

Example of an efficient search:

• (sex* or gender): the parentheses and OR allow you to include more terms in one search
• The * is a wildcard, so you will find sex or sexes or sexual, difference or differences
• AND requires that the concepts of sex/gender and difference are BOTH present in the resulting articles. 

Selected Article Indexes for Communication

• Subject specific: communication studies and mass media.
• Citations and abstracts to articles from hundreds of periodicals (journals and magazines) and reference books. Many articles available in full text.
• Can limit search results to articles from “scholarly (peer-reviewed) journals” and/or to full text. 

Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)

• General, scholarly coverage of thousands of periodicals (journals and magazines). Most articles full text.
• Can limit search results to full text.

Communication Studies

• Full text of 16 scholarly communication journals published by Sage Press.

• Multi-disciplinary coverage of the most important scholarly social science and/or science journals.
• Citation searching available (which articles cite another article).

PsycInfo

• citations and abstracts of scholarly journal articles and current chapter and book coverage, including those on communication
• covers only articles related to psychology
• coverage back to 1887

Use the Journal List on the library web site to find out what magazines and journals the UI Library owns and whether they are online or in print.

Browse journals by title

0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

If the UI Library doesn’t own or provide access to the article, journal or book that you need, register for and use the free interlibrary loan service to obtain the item from another library.  Use Article Linker (see above) to connect to interlibrary loan from the record for a specific article or book, or use the Interlibrary Loan link from the library home page.

You will need to properly cite your sources in APA style. 
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the authoritative resource for APA style.  Copies of it are available in the library at the Information Desk (ask for it there) and in the Reference stacks on the first floor under call number Ref BF76.7.P83 2001

Here are some links that may be helpful:

Sample paper: APA style

APA Style Tips

UI Library's page of Electronic Style Guides