Search for articles and videos
- Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowOffers full-text and abstracts of journal articles in all aspects of communication, mass media, and journalism.
- Film and Television Literature Index This link opens in a new windowA bibliographic database covering the entire spectrum of television and film writing.
- Sage Journals This link opens in a new windowIncludes over 1,100 full-text journals with coverage of a wide range of subject areas, as well as journals published on behalf of over 500 scholarly and professional societies. 1999 to present.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowA large multidisciplinary database providing articles from scholarly journals and magazines.
- Academic Video Online (AVON) This link opens in a new windowLarge collection of documentaries and feature films.
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Books for Communications and Media
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Search for newspaper articles
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowNexis Uni (previously called LexisNexis Academic) provides access to more than 17,000 news, business and legal sources. Includes news sources in the U.S. and abroad, information on businesses and industries, and legal documents such as U.S. Federal and State court cases and law review articles.
- America's News This link opens in a new windowA large collection of full-text U.S. newspapers. 1978-present.
- Wall Street Journal This link opens in a new windowEastern edition of the Wall Street Journal from 1984 - present.
- New York Times Digital Edition This link opens in a new window
- Providence Journal This link opens in a new windowDaily newspaper from Providence, Rhode Island. 1829-current. Includes page image edition for recent issues.
- Newport Daily News This link opens in a new windowSelected full text only for 2001 to 2/13/2019. Full page image edition starting from 2/14/2019 to present. See also our print and microfilm holdings.
- African American Newspapers This link opens in a new windowA collection of historical newspapers exploring African American history, culture and daily life from 1887-1998.
- Historical New York Times This link opens in a new windowNew York Times from 1851 to 2018. For recent issues, use New York Times Digital Edition or Nexis Uni.
- America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowOffers over 700 historical American newspapers, mainly from the 18th and early 19th centuries. Includes coverage of the Newport Gazette, 1777; Newport Herald, 1787-1791; and Newport Mercury 1758-1866.
Search Tips
Whether you are searching on the library website or Google, most searches default to Keyword searches.
A Keyword search looks for words anywhere in the title, summary, content, or metadata of an item. Keyword searches are a good substitute for a subject search when you do not know the standard subject heading. Keyword may also be used as a substitute for a title or author search when you have incomplete title or author information.
- Use this type of search technique when you are getting a feel for your topic and you are finding general information on a topic or subject.
- For example: a keyword search for "Thomas Jefferson" will give you results for items about and written by him. If you want to find items written by Thomas Jefferson use an author search and enter "Jefferson, Thomas."
- As you search for information on your topic you will develop your own vocabulary and terms related your topic. Keeping track of searches that worked well or create lists of synonyms of your keywords to improve your searching.
This search looks for the name of the author, editor, creator, or translator of an item.
- Use this search when you know the name of the author, editor, creator, or translator of a item.
- Tip: search last name, first name, for example "Jefferson, Thomas." If you don't find the author you are looking for, try a keyword search instead. Be mindful of aliases for example: Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens are the same person. Similarly with Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or Biggie.
- Tip: States, institutions or museums can be listed as authors. Try searching a state, institution, or museums to see what they have published. For example: Rhode Island, Harvard University, American National Red Cross, or Boston Museum of Fine Art.
- If you want to find items written by Thomas Jefferson use an author search and enter "Jefferson, Thomas." If you enter a name as a subject, the items you see in the search results will be about them, not necessarily written by them. A keyword search will return anything containing the name "Thomas Jefferson".
This search looks for the exact words you entered as the title of an item. If you don't know the exact title, try using a Keyword Search instead.
- Use this when you know the exact title of a book, exhibition catalog, or journal.
A subject search is more specific than a keyword search. Subject headings are a predetermined list of possible terms, which reflect the content of the item. Most academic libraries use Library of Congress Subject Headings. Subject headings are not always intuitive.
- Use this type of search when you want to find information which reflects the about-ness of a topic.
- If you want to find items written by Thomas Jefferson use an author search and enter "Jefferson, Thomas." If you enter a name as a subject, the items you see in the search results will be about them, not necessarily written by them. A keyword search will return anything containing the name "Thomas Jefferson".
*Subject searching is found on advanced search page