Research Guides: COMM 2381: Oral Communication: Databases

Databases to Start Your Search

Background and Topic Introduction

CQ Press Electronic Library This link opens in a new window
Access to the CQ Researcher with reports covering current controversial topics from the news; and CQ Weekly with coverage of U.S. Congressional bills, votes, committees, etc.
Gale Ebooks This link opens in a new window
A variety of reference works on business, the environment, history, law, literature, medicine, multicultural studies, religion, science and social science.
World Book Encyclopedia This link opens in a new window
Based on the World Book encyclopedia, this database serves as a gateway to its various dictionaries, atlases, encyclopedias, images, maps, videos, timelines, current news, links to external articles, and more.

News Databases

Gale OneFile News This link opens in a new window
OneFile News is a full-text newspaper database which allows users to search articles instantly by title, headline, date, newspaper section or other assigned fields. A one-stop source for the day's news and searchable archives. With OneFile News, you can search more than 1,800 titles of national, international, state and local newspapers (including Commercial Appeal 1996-2012).
NewsBank This link opens in a new window
Provides full text access to hundreds of newspapers. Also includes popular news magazines, detailed special reports on current events, and hot topics. Coverage: varies by paper.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Nexis Uni features more than 15,000 news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis®—including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790—with an intuitive interface that offers quick discovery across all content types, personalization features such as Alerts and saved searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and annotated documents.

Academic Databases

EBSCO Discovery Service This link opens in a new window
EBSCO Discovery Service provides users with an easy, yet powerful means of accessing all of an institution's information resources through a single search. This is achieved by harvesting metadata from both internal (library) and external (database vendors) sources, and creating a pre-indexed service of unprecedented size and speed. (All federated databases are listed individually in Databases Search as well.)
Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Ultimate offers an enormous collection of full-text journals, providing users access to critical information from many sources unique to this database. In addition, it includes peer-reviewed full text for STEM research, as well as for the social sciences and humanities. Scholarly content covers a broad range of important areas of academic study, including anthropology, engineering, law, sciences and more.
Communication Source This link opens in a new window
Indexes journals (and provides some full text) of scholarly journals covering many aspects of Communication & Mass Media Studies
Communications and Mass Media Collection This link opens in a new window
From marketing professionals to students studying for advanced degrees in linguistic theory, this collection provides current and accurate information in full-text from journals focused on all aspects of the communications field. Key subjects covered include: advertising and public relations, literature and writing, linguistics, and many more.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
The JSTOR database consists of complete backfiles of core scholarly journals in all disciplines. Coverage: varies--going back to first year of publication and coming up to 3-5 years ago. See the Project Muse database for scholarly articles from within the past 3-5 years.

Memphis News

Newspaper articles and online media like blogs and can be the best connection between your topic and how it relates directly to Memphis. You can go directly to their websites or search them using Google's site tool.

General News Sources

These cover a wide variety of topics targeted towards a general audience. They will have something on everything, though some topics might not be covered in depth.

Commercial Appeal
Search Memphis' city newspaper, Commercial Appeal. Find the password to the CA website on the library's password wiki.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Commercial Appeal This link opens in a new window
This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.

Coverage: 1847 - current

Daily Memphian
Memphis's daily independent newspaper. Free access with UofM login using this link.
Memphis Flyer
"The Memphis Flyer is Memphis’ alternative newsweekly. From in-depth features on politics, local scandals, and newsmakers to on-point editorials that aren’t afraid of the heavy hitters, if it’s news, we cover it."
Tri-State Defender
"The Tri-State Defender is a weekly newspaper and daily online news resource published in Memphis, Tennessee, serving the African-American communities in Memphis and nearby areas of Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee."

Specialty News Sources

These sources have a specific focus or beat that they cover. They will provide in-depth news in some topics and nothing in others.

Chalkbeat Tennessee
"Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization committed to covering one of America’s most important stories: the effort to improve schools for all children, especially those who have historically lacked access to a quality education."
Focus Mid-South
Free magazine covering LGBTQ+ news and culture in the Memphis area.
High Ground News
"High Ground News is a weekly digital magazine and website focused on what's next for the city of Memphis. We cover big corporate growth to small neighborhood movements, highlighting the development and innovation that are propelling Memphis forward. Our focus areas include economic and neighborhood development, healthy communities, entrepreneurship, non-profits, sustainability, leadership, technology and Innovation."
Inside Memphis Business
Inside Memphis Business is published six times a year, and focuses on local Memphis business news.
Memphis Business Journal
Memphis's daily business newspaper.
Memphis Daily News
The Daily News offers the most comprehensive information on construction, real estate, the courts, and local business activity, all drawn each day from public records.
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism
Reporting on the intersection of poverty, power and policy in Memphis and Shelby County.
Smart City Memphis
"This is Smart City Consulting's blog and its purpose is to connect the dots and provide perspective on events, issues, and policies shaping Memphis and its future."
Tennessee Lookout
Non-profit newsroom looking at issues across the state of Tennessee.