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Com 101 Library Information and Tutorials

Com 101 Library Activity Part 2

This is how you get to the second (and last) part of your graded library activity:

Go over the information on this page on locating scholarly journal articles, then go to Com 101 Library Activity Part 2 link below, and complete the activity. 

Note: Once you start the activity, you need to complete it (this is just because the technology doesn't allow you to save your work and come back to it), so make sure you have time before beginning. The activity should take about 20 minutes to complete, but can take more or less time depending on your research topic.

Important Note: The survey software (Qualtrics) records your responses as well as how long you spend on the activity, and information about the date and time your do the activity. A report of your entries in the activity will be sent to your instructor. 

Finding Journal Articles in Search It

Scholarly journal articles present focused and often very current research on a variety of topics. There are millions of these articles out there, but finding those that pertain to your specific research topic and interests can be challenging. Here is some information to get you started.

Finding Articles in Search It

  • Do a keyword search in Search It from The Libraries' homepage:

Screenshot of Search It search results

 

  • Then, narrow your search to peer-reviewed articles using the options on the left menu of the Search It results screen. This takes everything that doesn't come from a peer-reviewed journal out of your search results. 
  • You can also limit your search to sources available online to WSU students, which is especially handy if you need the article right away.

Screenshot of Search It results limited to articles

*Note of Caution* Many peer-reviewed journals also contain articles that aren’t peer-reviewed – things like editorials, book reviews, and guest columns. These might be interesting and useful, but even if they are found in a journal that uses peer-review, they do not count as peer-reviewed sources.​

Finding Journal Articles in JSTOR

Getting into JSTOR

Start at the Libraries’ website and use the "Databases" button to see the list of available databases.

Screen shot of the WSU Libraries home page with the Databases button highlighted

 

From this page, type JSTOR to get to a link to the JSTOR database or find the link to JSTOR in the "Featured Databases." You will probably be asked to log in with your WSU Network ID and password in order to use the database.

Screenshot of the A-Z databases list highlighting how to search for databases

 

In JSTOR, use your keywords to search. Here are some sample results from a JSTOR search. 

Screenshot of search results in JSTOR highlighting download options

Once you find an article you’d like to use, you can easily download a PDF by clicking on the Download PDF button.

Finding Journal Articles in CMMC

In CMMC, type in your search terms. You can check the box next to Scholarly (peer-reviewed) journals in the left-hand menu to limit your search to scholarly articles.

If you find an article in CMMC (or in any of the databases provided by the WSU Libraries) without a link to the full text, look for the button or link that says Find It @ WSU and click on it.

Screenshot of a Communications and Mass Media Complete search results list

 

The Find It link takes you to a page that acts as a bridge between the article information you have found and the full-text article. Here’s what that “bridge” page looks like:

Screenshot of an article record in search it with the full-text access link highlighted

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