1. Create a Topic Proposal
Follow your professor's guidelines for this, but generally, this is a paragraph or two, no more.
2. Create a Searching Strategy
After you complete your topic proposal, and before you begin searching the library resources for sources, you must create a Search Strategy.
- Define your topic in a phrase or sentence.
- Identify the keywords or the main words in your sentence.
- Think of synonyms for your keywords.
- List the assignment requirements (number of sources, type of sources, citation style.)
- Search the main library search box below - you're ready to begin!
Courtesy of Florida Atlantic University Libraries
3. Library Catalog Search: All Electronic & Print Resources
4. Resources for Finding Scholarly Sources
- Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowEBSCOhost's full text and cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for journals covering communication, mass media, linguistics, rhetoric, language, logic, and other closely related fields.
- Gale Database Power Search This link opens in a new windowMultidisciplinary scholarly and popular content in a variety of academic disciplines incudling Communication and Media Studies
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowMulti-disciplinary full-text full-run academic journals database
- ProQuest Research Library This link opens in a new windowFull-text, multidisciplinary database of journals, magazines, etc. Coverage is 1971-Present
5. Evaluate your Found Sources
Use this handy guide to help you evaluate your sources for usefulness for your topic.
6. Write Your Annotated Bibliography
Your Annotated Bibliography can be organized in three different ways:
- Alphabetically by author's last name
- Thematically (grouping your sources by theme)
- Chronologically by publication date
Your professor might have a preference as to how you organize your Annotated Bibliography, but if you have a choice, the best option is usually thematically as it begins to help you make connections between your sources and provide the framework for your Literature Review and subsequent First Draft.
Layne Porta
she/her