Content last reviewed:
Use reference materials for background information for your topic, or to find good keywords to use when searching databases. These are dictionaries, encyclopedias, guides, bibliographies, indexes and abstracts.
A sample:
- The International Encyclopedia of Communication (2008)
This twelve volume represents the definitive reference work in this interdisciplinary and dynamic field. - International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy (2016)
- Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications (2003)
- International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (2001)
This reference book contains extensive and detailed articles on topics in the social and behavioral sciences. - Encyclopedia of Rhetoric (2001)
- Encyclopedia of Public Relations (2005)
- Sage Knowledge Encyclopedias
Guides to literature reviews from universities
Conducting a Literature Review - Georgetown University Medical Centre
Literature Review - Deakin University Library
Learn to Write a Review of Literature - University of Wisconsin - Madison
Guidelines for Writing a Literature Review - University of Minnesota, Duluth
Academic writing : what is a literature review? - Simon Fraser University
Systematic approaches to a successful literature review 2012
Conducting research literature reviews : from the Internet to paper 2010
Doing your literature review: traditional and systematic techniques 2011
The literature review : six steps to success2009
Systematic approaches to a successful literature review 2016
Use the Omni tool to find books, government documents, conference proceedings, and journals.
Detailed instructions for using Omni can be found on the library's Omni Help Guide.
eBook Collections
- Cambridge University Press eBooks.
- Canadian Publishers Collection Includes major Canadian University Presses, among them the University of Toronto Press, the UBC Press, Les Presses de l'Université du Québec and McGill-Queen's University Press.
- Columbia International Affairs Online
- Directory of Open Access Books
- eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
- Ebook Central (previously ebrary® e-books) Fulltext of books from academic publishers, as well as books and reports from Canadian research institutes, government agencies and university centres.
- Google Books
- IMF eLibrary
- OAPEN Library
- OECD iLibrary
- Oxford Scholarship Online: ebook collections from Oxford University Press covering Economics & Finance, Business & Management, and Political Science.
- O'Reilly (formerly Safari Books Online) technology, digital media and business books and videos online
- Scholars Portal Books Fulltext available for books from the following publishers: Springer, Oxford University Press, American Psychological Association, Cambridge University Press, Canadian presses and government and non-governmental organizations
- Springer eBooks
- UC Press E-Books Collection, 1982-2004
- Wiley Online Journals
- World Bank e-Library
See a full list of ebook collections.
Other Catalogues:
- University of Ottawa
- WorldCat
Catalogue of books and other materials in libraries worldwide. Offers Over 62,000,000 million bibliographic records. - Library and Archives Canada Collections
- Centre for Research Libraries (CRL)
- Library of Congress
- British Library
- HathiTrust Digital Library
- WATMEDIA
WATMEDIA is an extensive, searchable database of approximately 50,000 film and video titles which are held by other Ontario universities and can be borrowed.
This Harvard Think Tank Search is a custom Google search of more than 690 think tank websites.
Search 15 Think Tanks (U.S.) at the same time, via Google Custom Search.
- Canadian Public Documents Collection Collection of publications from Canadian public policy institutes, government agencies, advocacy groups, think-tanks, university research centres and other public interest groups.
- Conference Board of Canada e-Library
- NBER Working Paper Series
- Policy File Index Provides access to U.S. foreign and domestic policy papers and gray literature.
- Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) A non-profit research organization, created specifically to develop, field test, and rigorously evaluate new programs.
Grey literature is defined as "information produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing" ie. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body." ICGL Luxembourg definition, 1997. Expanded in New York, 2004
Types of Grey Literature
- Government Information
- Theses and Dissertations
- Conference Proceedings (select Conference Proceedings Citation Index)
- Newspapers and Magazines
- Think Tanks
Resources
- Alternative Press Index - Indexes over 300 periodicals, newspapers and magazines which report and analyze the practices and theories of cultural, economic, political, and social change. 90% of the publications indexed in API are unique.
- Canadian Research Index (Provides detailed citations to monographs and serial publications in the Microlog microfiche collection)
- GreyNet: Grey Literature Network Service
- Grey Matters (a checklist for health technology assessment from the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH))
- Grey Literature Report (searchable bimonthly publication of The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM))
- Policy Commons (database to think tank literature)
Explore additional Subject Guides available from the library website.
How RSS feeds can be useful - use them to stay current on your topic.
Key Databases:
Canadian Newsstream
Communication and Mass Media Complete
Canadian Business & Current Affairs Database
Factiva
LexisNexis Academic
Additional Databases:
PressReader
ProQuest Databases
Alternative Press Index
World News Connection
PAIS Index
Use citation databases to find if a particular author and/or paper has been cited by other authors.
Examples:
Business Source Complete
Net Work Nation : inventing American telecommunications. Author:
Winseck, Dwayne. Source: Business History. Jul 2011, 53 (4), p641-647. 7p.
Cited References (15)
Web of Science
Select Cited Reference Search from top tool bar.
You have the article
Lauriault, Tracey, Small data in the era of big data (2015) Geojournal, 80 (4) , pp. 463-475.
Enter one author in cited author box
Lauriault, T* (use surname, first initial and truncation symbol)
Retrieve abbreviation of journal name from list provided, and enter year of publication. GEOJOURNAL 2015
Deselect disciplines not relevant from listing under Citation Databases
From the list, select the article and click on Finish Search at the top of the list.
Results show the article has been cited 12 times - the most recent in 2015.
Note the option Create Alert to be notified of any future citing of this article.
Scopus
Choose Author Search from top tool bar.
Enter author's name and affiliation if known
Young, Liam C*
Select displayed result. On right hand side all published articles by the author will be listed. Click on article for citing references.
Remember to see if a citing article has itself been cited.
For Current Newspapers/News:
Key Databases (or view full listing)
- Canadian Newsstream - major dailies
- Factiva - Global news coverage
- Canadian Business & Current Affairs Database
- PressReader current news from around the world (rolling 90 day window)
For Historical Canadian & Other Newspapers:
- The Globe and Mail: Canada's Heritage from 1844
- New York Times Archives1851-2005
- Toronto Star: Pages of the Past (Toronto Star)
- Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
For a full list of databases covering Dissertations & Theses
NVivo Workshops
NVivo is just one of many software packages available that can help you with qualitative data analysis. Keep track of all data associated with your project, code your data, create models to help organize your research, run queries on your coded data, create charts and reports for sharing with others...
In the Library's POmni search by Subject under Qualitative Research to find books in the collection, including:
- Dictionary of qualitative inquiry by Thomas A Schwandt
- Encyclopedia of evaluation edited by Sandra Mathison
- Doing qualitative research : a comprehensive guide by David Silverman and Amir Marvasti
Explore the subject guide Data Science or Data Visualization
Economic and business data available from
- Bloomberg - help guides available
- CRSP - US stock data
- Datastream - available in Sprott School of Business. Contact Greg Schmidt greg.schmidt@carleton.ca
Data Centre at Carleton
- Statistical Consulting
- The library provides a statistical consulting service for the software Stata and SPSS. Researchers may book an appointment with a consultant.
Visit the Scholarly Communications page for news and information on open access and Carleton University Open Access Policy.
Also explore:
- Writing for Publication
- Writing for Scholarly Journals
- Open Access Publishing This video gives an overview of open access publishing – what it is and how it works – and outlines the open access requirements created by the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications.
- Curve An open access repository which holds academic research output and creative work voluntarily deposited by Carleton faculty, staff and students, as well as all dissertations and theses produced at Carleton
- Directory of Open Access Journals A multidisciplinary database of 5125 open access journals. Currently 2117 journals are searchable at the article level.
- Research Impact: Scholarly Communication @ Carleton University keep up to date on open access and scholarly communication activities at Carleton University and beyond.
Writing the dissertation:
- Mapping your thesis : the comprehensive manual of theory and techniques for masters and doctoral research LB2369.W49 2011
- Principles of writing research papers LB2369.L393 2011
- Revising your dissertation : advice from leading editors LB2369.R49 2008
- Surviving Your Dissertation: A Comprehensive Guide to Content and Process. 3rd ed. LB2369.R83 2007
- Demystifying Dissertation Writing: A Streamlined Process from Choice of Topic to Final Text. LB2369.S55 2010
- Completing your qualitative dissertation : a road map from beginning to end H62.B58555 2012
Publishing Journal Articles:
- Writing for Academic Journals (e-book in our collection)
Citation Help
- Citation Management online links to schedule of workshops and help.
Note the help guide for Zotero and the workshop presentation. Mendeley guides are also available. - The Chicago Manual of Style
- Citing Government Information
- Citing Data & Statistics
Selected social media tools and resources for journalism:
- Journalist's Toolbox
- 100 Twitter Tools
- Digital Journalism
- Map Your Twitter Followers
- Members of Parliament
- Newspaper Map (Google Map)
- Social Media Today
- Twitter for Newsrooms
- US Congressional Twitter Directory
- WeFollow: Twitter
