Skip to Main Content

COMM 297 Bown: Find books

Big 3 research approach

1. Use library tools first. If we don't have it, go to step 2.

2. Try Google Scholar as a fallback plan. If that doesn't work (like, you hit a paywall)...

3. Use SU Libraries' Interlibrary Loan service when all else fails. If you have citation info for a source you can't get, request it through ILL.

Use SURF to find books

Example research question: "Does journalism coverage of protests impact public perception of the movements?" (agenda setting theory)

Keywords and synonyms:  journalism, news, protests, public perception 


Start out using a broad-to-narrow keyword search strategy. Use one or two umbrella keywords, and narrow results with additional qualifiers. 

1. Limit to Books and search: journalism, protests = 460 results

2. add public perception - notice your results are fewer yet more specific = 47 results

3. Could this and other books be relevant? How? Global media perceptions of the United States : the Trump effect

4. Review Table of Contents, Location, Status, and Call Number.

6. Scroll down to the Locate Shelf link.

7. Citation Generator & Permalink

Quick poll

Books are excellent scholarly sources for finding ________ on a topic.
New original research studies: 1 votes (9.09%)
Background information: 0 votes (0%)
Government information: 0 votes (0%)
Statistical data: 10 votes (90.91%)
Total Votes: 11