PRIMO defaults to searching all journals and books (including chapters) to which we have access, with an overwhelming number of results.
But one of the most effective ways to find articles on topics related to Media Studies is to use the databases.
Databases collect, organise and index information from journals, books, book chapters, theses and dissertations, magazines and other sources.
Search for articles using databases by typing in keywords that describe your topic.
It is possible to search across a whole range of databases at one time for articles on a particular subject. Many of these articles will be immediately available in full text, but some only as abstracts (summaries) or citations. Not all these articles will be available at UCT Libraries, so you may need to ask Interlibrary Loans to obtain the article for you from another library.
You're looking for a particular article in a specific journal.
To check whether the library subscribes to that title, check the journals list on PRIMO.
If the title does not appear, ask for assistance at the Ask-A-Librarian service. We can check the South African Catalogue to see whether another library subscribes to the title, and a request can be placed at Interlibrary Loans for a copy to be sent for you.
You're looking for articles on a specific topic.
Use the libraries' databases to locate articles. Ask your subject librarian or contact the Ask-A-Librarian service for advice on which would be the best databases to use.
Academic Search Premier is a very popular databases containing mostly full text covering most academic areas of study including Education. The search can be restricted to only scholarly journals by ticking the "Peer Reviewed" button.
Humanities International Complete is a scholarly and wide-ranging database with good full text coverage on all aspects of the Humanities, with worldwide content pertaining to literacy, scholarly and creative thought. Available via EBSCOHost.
SocINDEX with Full Text is a comprehensive and highest quality sociology research database. Available via EBSCOHost.
SA-E Publications holds full text of a range of South African academic journals for a variety of subjects including Media Studies.
Arts & Humanities Citation Index and Social Sciences Citation Index on Web of Knowledge are scholarly tools used for following a chain of references. One can use this as a database in trying to locate articles on a particular topic. Or by typing in a name of particular researcher, you can generate a list of articles which have made reference to that researcher's work.
Emerald is a fulltext database which covers mostly business studies. including advertising and marketing.
ScienceDirect offers access to the Elsevier Science journal collection, along with journals from a host of prestigious societies and scientific, technical and medical publishers. The full text collection of over 1 million articles from 1995 to present covers a wide variety of subject areas and disciplines in the sciences and social sciences including Media Studies.
JSTOR holds the full text of over 1000 academic journals including those related to Media Studies.
SpringerLink Journals also provides the full text to a number of Media Studies.
Taylor and Francis Online provides access to a number of Media Studies journals.