- Citing your sources (also called referencing) is an essential part of your academic work and is explained fully on our library referencing webpage.
- The Library also has a printed guide to citing your references using the Harvard (Author-Date) system (Word and PDF versions available)
- You can also browse the Academic Integrity reading list which has a number of resources on plagiarism and academic misconduct, including the Academic Integrity Online Moodle course.
- Cite Them Right Online shows you how to reference a wide range of sources (books, journal articles, web sites) using exactly the same Harvard style used at Brookes.
- Endnote is a tool for storing and organising your references, and it will also work with Word or Pages to create a fully formatted bibliography from your reference library.
Course resource help for Communication, Media and Culture
Search the Library
Quick access
Resources
Databases
You can use LibrarySearch to find journal articles: type in your topic and then use the search tools menu to limit the format to article. Guide to finding journal articles on a topic using LibrarySearch (PDF).
When you want to find more specialised and specific journal articles, you may want to try using a database. Searching a database will help you find journal articles (and sometimes books, book chapters, reports and other published materials) that are scholarly, academic and peer-reviewed, and suitable for your assignments and research.
Communication & Mass Media Complete
Undoubtedly one of the most important databases for Communication, Media and Culture. The database covers subjects such as advertising, broadcasting, communication, cultural studies, film, journalism, language and linguistics, mass media, radio, rhetoric and television.
Academic Search Complete
Multi-disciplinary database for academic articles, reports and conference proceedings. Full text access to more than 5,800 scholarly publications, including more than 5,350 peer-reviewed journals. EBSCO.
Business Source Complete
Over 2000 full text journals, including The Bookseller and Publishers Weekly, plus abstracts only from over 540 journals. Also includes books, industry reports, country reports and company profiles. Covers management, economics, finance, accounting and business. EBSCO.
Box of Broadcasts (BoB)
An online archive giving you access to thousands of recorded radio and TV programmes including films. It allows users to record programmes which will then be stored on the database. Log in when prompted with your Brookes username and password.
WARC
A database from the World Advertising Research Center, it covers journals, news, case studies and data on advertising and marketing.
Books and ebooks
Find all our books and electronic books using LibrarySearch. Search and then select Book from the Search tools menu on the left. You can further limit your search to eBook if you only want electronic books. More information about our electronic books can be found on the Ebooks webpage.
- Video guide to using LibrarySearch to find books
- Finding a book when you know the author/title - PDF
- Finding a book on a topic - PDF
Reading lists
- Module reading lists are a useful way to find the readings for your module. You can find your reading list on the Reading Lists home page by searching your module code, module name, or module leader's name. You can also find your reading list in the top right corner of the module page on Moodle.
- Be sure to check whether an item on your reading list is 'Essential', 'Recommended', or 'Optional' - that will help you prioritise your reading.
- Don't forget - reading lists can also be a good starting point for finding resources for your assignments.
TV, film and newspapers
TV and film
- Box of Broadcasts - an off-air recording and media archive service that stores recorded TV and Radio programmes in an archive for all users to enjoy. The archive currently offers over 45,000 TV and radio programmes covering all genres. Users can record programmes, watch programmes from the archive, create clips and compile their favourite shows into playlists and share these with others.
- Screenonline is a service produced by the bfi (British Film Institute) which is dedicated to the history of film and television in Britain. It provides access to a range of resources including still images, analyses, biographies, posters, press books, student guides and pointers to resources for further study. Staff and students of Oxford Brookes can also access video clips and recorded interviews from the collections of the bfi National Film and Television Archive. Note that these clips can only be accessed from Brookes PCs - there is no off-campus access to these features.
Newspapers
- Factiva - international news database providing an archive of 10,000 sources from 152 countries in 22 languages. Leading national newspapers, local newspapers, trade and professional journals, the BBC Monitoring Service (transcripts of world radio broadcasts) and company financial data are all included. A guide to using Factiva to find newspaper articles is available.
- Full-text newspaper articles from UK newspapers, including film reviews, can be accessed through Lexis+. To search the database for news articles, select content and then newspapers. Make sure you choose newspapers, not news. You can use the search box on the newspapers page to search all UK national and local newspapers at once.
- Print newspapers: the British Library holds an extensive collection of UK and Irish Newspapers at the St Pancras reading rooms. You will need to register for a reader pass to visit the collection.
- News sources - more information and sources
Websites
Library guide on Evaluating web sources
Some of these internet sites belong to individual bodies or associations. Others provide gateways to general communication or media related, or to more subject specific sites.
- Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS)
- British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
- BBC Arts Information
- British Film Institute
- British Universities Film & Video Council (BUFVC)
- Department of Culture, Media and Sport (UK Government website)
- EUscreen - offers free online access to videos, stills, texts and audio from European broadcasters and audiovisual archives from early 1900s until today.
Need help? Contact your librarian
Please get in touch if you have any queries about:
- finding information and resources for assignments
- finding online resources
- referencing your sources
Ashley is hybrid working this semester, so will sometimes be on campus (at either Headington or Harcourt Hill) and sometimes working from home. Please email acushman@brookes.ac.uk in the first instance. If you need a 1-2-1 appointment we can then arrange one either face-to-face or via Zoom or Google Meet.