Journalism 210
Spring 2009
Library Session on Databases & Internet Resources
Kathy Dabbour, Journalism Librarian

http://library.csun.edu/kdabbour/journalism.html


1. Library Web site overview: http://library.csun.edu
a) Library Catalog: books, periodicals, media, government documents, includes links to online subscriptions, electronic books, etc.
b) Find Articles and Research Data: overview of relevant categories for journalism: news, general, law, other subjects.
c) Databases A-Z: go directly to databases I am going to demo.
d) How to do Library Research: search tips, strategies, citation styles, avoiding plagiarism
e) Ask a Librarian: online chat service, etc.
f) Quick search forms
g) Inter library Loan: For books and articles not held by the Oviatt Library, request an inter library loan or search http://www.worldcat.org to see if other local libraries have the books, periodicals, media you need

2. Journalism Research web page overview: http://library.csun.edu/kdabbour/journalism.html
a) Will not use all of these sources for this class.
b) Why not just Google or use Wikipedia for everything? Library databases provide access to reputable, credible sources that are prescreened by known publishers and editors. When you work as a journalist, this is important for presenting information accurately and objectively. You will likely have access to information sources via your news outlet’s library or research department. If not, public libraries provide remote access to databases, too.

3. Facts, Opinions, and Statistics (selected):
http://library.csun.edu/kdabbour/journalism.html#facts
The following web sites can lead you to facts, opinions, statistics, and background information to support your news gathering and research.
a) American Factfinder (Population, housing, economic, and geographic data from the U.S. Census. Use their tutorials to learn more.)
b) Electronic Reference Books (encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories, etc.)
c) Government Information: Federal, State, Local, International
d) Government Reference Sources (Links to federal sources of statistics and other information on crime, legal, business, education, etc. topics)
e) National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)
f) News on the Web
g) NewsBank Special Reports (Focus on topics of current interest, including current and background information, statistics, maps, images, web sites, and suggested search terms. Updated daily.)
h) Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (Focus on controversial topics. In addition to periodical articles, includes primary source documents, statistics, images and podcasts, and links to Web sites. Note: Only two users can search this database at the same time! Public Opinion Polls and Surveys
i) Public Records Directory
j) RefDesk.com--Reference, Facts, News
k) San Fernando Valley Statistics & Facts
l) Statistical Data Sources

4. Government, Political, and Legal Web Sites (selected):
General
http://library.csun.edu/kdabbour/journalism.html#legal
A. Legal Research Sources (Links to federal, state, and local sources of legislative, judicial, and administrative law.)
B. California and Local
C. United States

5. Business and Industry Sources
http://library.csun.edu/kdabbour/journalism.html#biz
See also my PR page with more places to look for information on business and industry.
These web sites will lead you to sources of information about companies and industries.

6. General Periodical Sources: Helpful for background information for stories, familiarizing yourself with news publications: http://library.csun.edu/kdabbour/journalism.html#gen

A. News + Current Issues databases http://library.csun.edu/xerxes/databases/NewsCurrentIssues
1. LexisNexis Academic
a) Lexis Nexis Academic is a “periodical database” etc.: searchable database that provides access to articles by keywords, author, journal title, etc. that often includes summaries and full text.
b) LN covers full text news sources including U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, transcripts of radio and television news broadcasts, newswire services (Associate Press, Reuters, etc.), and blogs. Also provides full text business and legal information, including court cases and laws from the federal government and states.
1) General Easy search tab (default): Searches news sources, some business and limited legal. Just searches words and phrases. Limit by type of source to search and date as needed.
2) Example: officer involved shooting limited to previous month and default sources
3) Show Results:
4) Link to a full text record
5) View: list, expanded, full
6) Select documents for later printing, etc.
7) Result group by category (type of source), subject (more relevant to search terms), geography, etc. for quick browsing
8) Link to full text
9) Print, email, save
10) Bottom of full text record: Find documents with similar topics:
11) Edit search and search in news transcripts (narrow search term still listed)
12) Result group by category and show specific subjects, type of source, etc.
13) Information button provides detail about sources being searched
14) Edit search and add los angeles to show adding other keywords narrows down
c) General Power search tab: Allows use of Boolean (logical) connectors (and, or and not), greater specificity of information source than Easy Search, but still searching large groupings of publications; can also search by specific article section (headline, lead paragraph, byline, etc.)
1) Explain Boolean logic and truncation
2) AND narrows search (all search terms must be present in a record): officer AND shooting
3) w/p, w/5, etc. narrower than “and”: officer w/p shooting
4) OR broadens search (any search term can be present in a record): officer OR police
5) Truncation (!) at the root of a word broadens search (root word and any variation on the ending, however if you enter singular term automatically searches the simple plural): shoot!
6) (officer or police) w/p shoot! w/p los angeles
d) News tab: more specificity of sources, sections to search, public opinion polls, Spanish language, and legal news sources, etc.
e) Legal tab: Allows searching law review journals, court cases, U.S. and state codes, Code of Federal Regulations, etc.
f) Business tab: Search for information and news on public (trade on stock exchanges) and private companies, general business news under “news”
g) People tab: Biographical information on famous people living and dead, Barak Obama as an example to show objectivity of sources, basic facts.
h) Sources tab: Can browse or search specific publications or create your own group of publications to search.

2. ProQuest Newspapers
a) Full text newspaper database, only database that has the complete Los Angeles Times back to 1881, whereas Lexis only has the latest 6 months (you can get to the Times via their web site, but you will hit a point when you are asked to pay—use ProQuest for complete coverage).
b) Also has the Daily News back to 1995 and New York Times 1851- present
c) Demonstrate current newspapers, multi-database vs. historical
d) Sample searches:
1) Los Angeles riot (name of a historical event)
a. Limit to 1992
2) Los Angeles AND riot
3) Limit to 04/29/1992 (no hits—too early)
4) Limit to 04/30/1992 (articles begin to appear)
5) Limit to Los Angeles Times
6) Los Angeles AND riot* (truncation)
7) (Los Angeles OR Rodney King) AND riot*
8) Show results.
9) Click on More Search Options and select “Document Type”: Editorial.

3. Ethnic NewsWatch, GenderWatch (Proquest)
a) Covers the ethnic press, gender-related periodicals.
b) These databases may provide different viewpoints, report issues not covered in the “mainstream” press.
c) Can also search simultaneously with Proquest Newspapers.


4. Countrywatch
a) News and background information on 192 countries

B. General + Multi-Subject databases: http://library.csun.edu/xerxes/databases/GeneralMultiSubject
1. Gale Power Search
a) Magazines, scholarly journals, reference books, Opposing Viewpoints
b) Uses Boolean (logical) connectors (and, or, not)
i. (affirmative action) AND (college* OR universit*) AND admission*
c) View results tabs:
1) Magazines includes news magazines
2) Academic includes scholarly, peer-reviewed journals
3) News includes newspapers, newswires
4) Multimedia includes transcripts, podcasts
5) Books includes encyclopedia articles, government documents, Opposing Viewpoints
d) Find Text

7. Finding Books:
A. Books may be searched in the Library Catalog by author, title, Library of Congress Subject Heading or keyword.
B. To see a list of specific Library of Congress Subject Headings, from the Library Catalog's Basic search page, perform a Subject search on the word "journalism," or "public relations," or "photojournalism" etc., and click on the "related subjects" link.
C. For books not held by the Oviatt Library, request an Interlibrary Loan or search WorldCat to see if other local libraries have the books you need.

8. Reference Resources
(Note: Location: REF RM in the library catalog refers to the Reference Room on the main floor, Oviatt Library. For serial publications, earlier editions are usually found on the upper floors of the Library or in storage.)
Directories
Handbooks & Stylebooks
Encyclopedias
Biographical Research











Kathy Dabbour
Communication Studies & Journalism Librarian
http://library.csun.edu/kdabbour/
kathy.dabbour@csun.edu
(818) 677-4706