Communication Research: Communication Resources

COMMUNICATION LIBRARY RESOURCES

Communication students can learn how to make use of the Robert L. Powell Library and its resources with the instructional videos found on the library web site under “Using the Library”. They may also learn how to make use of many of the databases listed below with our subscription to “Niche Academy” video tutorials.

The subscription databases available through the Powell Library providing information related to various aspects of the Communication field are these:

• Communication & Mass Media Complete: Search numerous journals in communication, mass media, and other closely related fields of study encompassing the breadth of the communication discipline.
• Communications and Mass Media (Gale OneFile): Quickly access articles from scholarly journals and other trusted periodicals. Includes Topic Finder, Subject Guide Search, and Publication Search.
• Directory Library (Gale): Contains these relevant directories:
  • Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media
  • Publishers Directory
• Newspaper Source: Provides cover-to-cover full text for more than 250 U.S. & international newspapers.
• ProQuest Dissertations: The world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses.
• ProQuest Research Library: Provides access to a wide range of popular academic subjects.
• Salem Reference includes these relevant resources:
  • Broadcast Industry Guide
  • Sports Market Place
  • Critical Insights: Films:
    • Alred Hitchcock
    • Bonnie & Clyde
    • Casablanca
    • Stanley Kubrick
  • Novels into Film: Includes Adaptations & Interpretations.

A Research Guide for the Communications Discipline has been prepared. It contains the above databases and more as well as information on Open Access Resources, Theses & Dissertations, Web Resources, Identifying Scholarly Sources, Finding Reviews, Sighting Citations, Evaluating Sources and Subject Authority Schemes.

In addition, students may search the Discovery catalog to find millions of resources on Communication, Mass Media and related subjects. While the Powell Library will not have all the resources found, we do offer an InterLibrary Loan Service, which allows students to request needed items at no cost to them. The Powell Library also offers a Book Scanning Service, especially useful to Online students, for selected pages/chapters of a needed book held by the Powell Library.

While TMU students cannot access other libraries’ subscription databases through the Powell Library, many university libraries and certainly all public libraries do allow locals to acquire a library card thereby granting them access to their respective collections.

Last updated September 2025.