Reference Resources
- International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family [online]
- Parenthood in America: an Encyclopedia
- Handbook of Family Communication
- Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships
- Families in America: A Reference Handbook
- Handbook of Stress, Trauma, and the Family
Articles
Key Communication Databases
Communication and Mass Media Complete CMMC offers cover-to-cover (core) indexing and abstracts for over 300 journals, and selected (priority) coverage of over 100 more, for a combined coverage of over 400 titles.
- Example: Search results for "Communication in families" AND immigra*
Communication Abstracts Abstracts articles from journals, conference proceedings and hard-to-find documents. Includes scientific research and government policies.
Other Useful Databases
PsycINFO
Indexes journals, dissertations and some books in the fields of personality psychology, social psychology, educational psychology and more.
Social Sciences Full Text
ndex to international, English language journals in psychology, sociology, anthropology, geography, economics, political science and law.
Article Database Search Tips
- Use synonyms, brainstorm and mine found resources
- Notice controlled vocabulary, index, descriptor and subject terms. Take good notes!
- Use truncation to search for all terms with the same root: child* for child, children and childhood
- Combine terms with boolean operators, AND contains both terms, OR contains at least one term
- Search phrases; quotes work for most databases
- Use dropdown menu or radio buttons to limit search to fields such as title, subject, abstract, descriptors
- Save time and frustration with the Help menu: every database has one!
Finding Articles in Full Text 
Once you have identified a useful article, check to see whether it is available in full text from that database. You will see a link or an icon for an HTML or PDF version of the article (sometimes the full article is displayed below the abstract). If the article is not available in full text through that database, it may still be available through another vendor. Click the find it button to see if it is available. This will take you to the 360Link screen:
Library Books & Videos
In addition to scholarly articles, books are another important avenue for scholarly publishing.
From the library homepage, click the Search tab. Then click the Books & More tab. Search with keywords, or use the drop-down menu to search for a specific title or author.
See the results of an example search for communication in the family.
Or, if you are looking for a video. Use the links on the right-hand side of the page to narrow the Format to DVD. For instance, here are DVDs involving family drama that the library owns. (We own many VHS tapes regarding family communication and family therapy.)
Citations
APA Style
Publication manual for the American Psychological Association
- Available for use in the library, this is the official guide to APA style.
OWL (Perdue University Online Writing Lab) - APA
- OWL is a freely available online resource provided by Perdue University. The OWL gives clear instructions for formatting your paper and bibliography in APA style.