COMC 2329 - Media Industries (Prof. Freeman): COMC 2329 Course Page

Once your professor has approved the industry segment that you have selected to track, you need to start planning your research.  These research tips will help you find the sources you need to complete the assignment:

• Review the list of "Useful Trade Source Links" provided by your professor.
• If there are other reputable websites that you want to use, be prepared to evaluate them and provide support for their authority.
• Are there Trade Publications available via the Fordham Libraries that will provide the full text of content that is password-protected on websites?
• Keep a record of the databases, websites, words, and dates used to search.

Tracking your industry trend

• Write down the specific words, technologies, regulations, individuals, and companies that are associated with this trend.
• Be careful not to confuse a new product with an industry trend (the new product reflects the trend, but is not the trend)
• Collect citation information

Search the Library Catalog to determine which database contains the full text of a publication, newspaper, journal, or other periodical.

Screenshot of a periodical title search in the library catalog.

Try searching with the Browse or Exact option (not Keyword):

Screenshot of a periodical record in the library catalog:

Screenshot of the list of databases that provide full text access to that periodical, including dates:

Search Tips

• Use the Advanced Search
• Use your Industry as a Subject
• Limit by Date
• Limit by Source Type = Trade Publications, Magazines
• THEN Limit by Publication Name (select only the ones that fit)

Reminder: Think of variant words, both broad and specific. Use Boolean operators to string the words together. Use truncation to find variant word endings.

Examples searching within the publication:

• (JN "Advertising Age") AND (ai or artificial intelligence or machine learning)
• (JN "Publishers Weekly") AND (censor* OR ban*) AND books

Examples searching within a subject specific database:

• ((QAnon OR "Conspiracy Theor*" OR "Fake News" OR Disinformation) AND ("social media" OR Instagram OR Facebook OR Twitter OR YouTube OR Parler))
• ((Television OR TV) AND (series OR show OR program) AND (TikTok))

Consult the Help option in the database to determine the truncation symbol (usually it is the asterisk * , but not always), as well as other database specific search tips.

Use the worksheet in the handout to document and organize your research process.

EBSCO platform

(EBSCO Federated Searching)

ProQuest platform

(ProQuest Federated Search)

Gale Cengage platform

Lexis Nexis platform

These other Fordham research guides may also be helpful.

Jane Suda, Head of Reference & Information Services

jsuda@fordham.edu (one-on-one zoom consultations provided on request)