Need Help?
For individual research help, schedule an appointment to meet with a librarian.
Useful Websites
- CineStory FoundationNon-profit organization dedicated to nurturing new screenwriting talent.
- Directors Guild of AmericaThe Directors Guild of America is a labor organization that represents the creative and economic rights of directors and members of the directorial team working in film, television, commercials, documentaries, news, sports and new media.
- Internet Movie DatabaseIMDB is an online database of information related to world films, television programs, home videos and video games, and internet streams.
- Women Film Pioneers ProjectThe Women Film Pioneers Project (WFPP) is a freely accessible, collaborative online database that showcases the hundreds of women who worked behind-the-scenes in the silent film industry as directors, producers, editors, and more.
Searching websites
|
|
"communication barriers" AND "effective communication" site:.edu |
|
83,000 results |
|
|
|
|
|
|
How do communication barriers hinder effective communication? |
|
1,120,000 results |
Here's how to craft a better search to get fewer and more relevant results:
- Identify the main ideas in your research question.
How does media affect communication?
- Connect the main ideas with AND.
media AND communication
- Use quotation marks around 2 or more words that need to be together.
"television media" AND "mass communication"
- Use OR between synonyms/related terms.
("television media" OR "broadcast journalism") AND mass communication
- Limit your search to a specific domain, such as .edu, .gov, or .org.
("television media" OR "broadcast journalism") AND mass communication site:.gov
More information on advanced Google searching and Google Scholar.
How Wikipedia CAN be useful in the beginning stages of research:
 |
A basic overview of your topic. |
|
Important names, vocabulary and keywords related to your topic. |
|
Table of contents for some entries, helping you to understand how your topic can be organized. |
|
References and other websites that may be helpful (though you will need to evaluate them to be sure). |
Why NOT to use Wikipedia for academic research:
X The accuracy and authority of a Wikipedia article cannot be verified.
How to Evaluate Websites
Search Google for your topic keywords. Look for government, education, and/or organization webpages as well as news/magazine publications. Be cautious if using Wikipedia as the content cannot be verified.
Before using information found on a webpage, consider the following criteria to evaluate its credibility.
- Who is the author?
- What are his/her qualifications?
- Why was the website created?
- When was it last updated?
- How reliable is the information?