Communication Studies

Is This Article Peer Reviewed?

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 12:21:01 -0700

You can usually tell if an article is peer reviewed by reading the title, author and abstract.

Peer reviewed articles have:

a standard format: this includes an abstract; an introduction; a methods section as well as a results, discussion and conclusion section; many footnotes and a long bibliography.
data (charts, graphs, numbers) from original research done by the authors
specialized language because they are written by professionals for other professionals.

Peer reviewed articles are sent to other experts (peers of the authors) for review prior to publication; experts verify that data collection & analysis was valid.

Sources for Informative or Demonstration Speeches

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:22:44 -0800

Books are often a good choice for "how to" information. Use the PCC library catalog to find books at PCC as well as other libraries; you can request item be sent from another campus or college library to your PCC library.

EBSCOhost
Search from a wide range of research databases for magazine and journal articles.

SIRS Knowledge Source
Full text articles and information on social issues, science, health, history, government, business, and the arts and humanities.

Popular Magazines
Full-text articles from more than a thousand magazines covering current events, sports, science, health and more.

Academic OneFile
Full-text articles from magazines and journals covering the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects. Some articles are peer-reviewed.,Includes full-text New York Times content from 1995 to present.

Databases with Peer-Reviewed Articles

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:23:04 -0800

Select a database based on the topic you are researching.
For example, if you will argue that bottled water poses an environmental threat, you should look for articles in a biology or environmental sciences database

Academic Search Premier An EBSCOhost database with articles from all disciplines, many peer reviewed. Limit your search to peer reviewed using the "Scholarly (peer reviewed) Journals" limit box.

Communication & Mass Media Complete An EBSCOhost database with full-text articles, many peer reviewed, relating to all aspects of communication and mass media. Limit your search to "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals."

Health Source Nursing/Academic An EBSCOhost database with articles from health and medicine related journals, including peer reviewed. Limit your search to "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals."

JSTOR Articles from over 1000 scholarly journals in the arts and sciences, all peer reviewed and all full text. Does not include current issues of the journals.

Biology Journals Full text articles from 280 biology journals, many of them peer-reviewed.

Science Direct Full text for over 890 peer reviewed health and life sciences journals. For best results click on SEARCH to get started. Limit your search to SUBSCRIBED Journals.

Google Scholar (scholar.google.com). Peer reviewed research articles. Look for links to "Full-text @ PCC" to get the whole article, free!

Peer Review explained

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:41:01 -0700

Ever wonder what this means? "Peer-review in 5-minutes" explains the process and the role it plays in establishing and communicating new knowledge.

Search the Library Catalog

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:26:15 -0700

Welcome to PCC Library. The Library Catalog is your starting point to find books, ebooks, DVDs, articles, and other materials.

Special Occasion Speech

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:43:15 -0700

EBSCOhost databases Find articles about contemporary people from newspapers and magazines. Type the person's name and biography in the search box.
Tips on using EBSCOhost handout [PDF].

Biography in Context Images, videos, news features, articles, reference resources, and more are brought together in this collection of more than 600,000 biographies.

Another source of biographical information about contemporary people are news articles. Use Google News news.google.com.

World News (NPR)

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:22:51 -0700

Up to the minute news stories from around the world.

New York Times: Today's Editorials

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:19:04 -0700

Editorials from the New York Times:

Christian Science Monitor: Today's News

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:20:09 -0700

Read current articles from the Christian Science Monitor:

Topic Ideas

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:28:22 -0700

CQ Researcher Topical, full text reports on controversial issues. Each report features a summary, chronology, and bibliography. Updated weekly.

Opposing Viewpoints Information on current social issues. Includes viewpoint articles on multiple sides of an issue, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles. A good place to shop for a topic.

SIRS Knowledge Source Full text information on social issues, science, health, history, government, business, and the arts and humanities. Check out Issues Researcher section for suggested topics.

Good Books at PCC Library

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:47:24 -0700

Essentials of public speaking
Offers advice on analyzing an audience, defining the topic, finding supporting materials, organizing the main points, preparing visual aids, and rehearsing the speech.

Speak up! : a woman's guide to presenting like a pro.
Tips and tools. Speak clearly, confidently and with passion; deal with difficult colleagues, use technology to support your message in the boss' office, the conference room, or at a convention.

Get Help in Person or by Phone

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:34:41 -0700

You can ask our librarians a question during open hours at any PCC Library.

Need the phone number for your campus? Contact us! If you'd rather come by in person, check the PCC Library locations and hours.

Email Us

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:34:58 -0700

Need to ask a question by email? That's easy too. Use Ask a Librarian, or find your favorite librarian's email address on Library Staff.

Help from Tutors

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:35:15 -0700

Tutors are available to you both in person and online, and the service is free! Cascade, Sylvania, Rock Creek and Southeast Center each have a tutoring center with excellent in-person tutors in most subjects. If you're working on a paper, the writing tutors are popular (so don't wait until the last minute)! You can get more information about each campuses hours and locations at the links below:

Cascade Campus Learning Center

Rock Creek Student Learning Center

Tutoring at Southeast Center

Tutoring at Sylvania

Or get started working with PCC's online tutors:

eTutoring at PCC

Chat or Text a Librarian for Help

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:35:30 -0700

You can chat with a PCC librarian any time you see the PCC Ask A Librarian chat widget on any of the library's pages (like the PCC Library home page) or in a subject guide like this one. You can also get to us through AIM, Yahoo!, or Google Talk.

AIM/Y!: pcclib
Google Talk: pcclib@gmail

You can also text a librarian for help at:
971-259-TEXT (8398)

Need help when the library isn't open? Chat with an L-Net librarian 24-7.

Helping Yourself!

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:35:44 -0700

PCC Library has lots of resources that you can use on your own. You may already know that about the quiet study spaces as well as study rooms you can reserve.

Citing sources is another way you can help yourself! PCC Library has all the information you need on Cite Sources. The library also has video tutorials on everything from how to develop a topic for your paper to figuring out how to incorporate those citations. You'll find those videos, as well as information about using e-resources, at Tutorials and Handouts.

Background Information

vscott@pcc.edu (Torie Scott) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 11:39:06 -0800

Getting Started
If you can speak for one minute without notes on your topic, and answer the "Who, what, when, where and why?" for that topic, then you are ready for deeper research. If not, invest 5 minutes in reading an encyclopedia.

The Library has many online encyclopedias:

Gale Virtual Reference Library, a collection of specialized, indepth encyclopedias.

World Book Online, a general encyclopedia

Credo Reference, a collection of encyclopedias with links to article databases and the PCC Library catalog.

Wikipedia Your instructor probably won't accept Wikipedia as a source, but it is a great place to get ideas at the beginning of your research. Be sure to check the Bibliography, Notes and External Links at the bottom of each entry.