New Media & Society (SMAD 470)
This guide, created for Dr. Holman's SMAD 470 class in Fall 2012, offers some starting resources for researching game creation and evaluation. If you have difficulty finding enough information on your topic, be sure to ask Jennifer Keach or at a library service desk for help.
Getting Beyond Google and Wikipedia
Search the JMU Library Catalog and selected article databases at once! If you are off-campus, see Connecting from off-campus before searching Quick Search.
Finding More Books
Get grounded in gaming theory with books explaining the fundamentals.
- JMU Library CatalogTo find books in JMU Libraries, you can also search JMU Library Catalog. All these books are also included in Quick Search, but the catalog lets you browse our virtual and physical shelves by call number.
Browse in JMU Library Catalog or within the libraries in these call number areas:- GV 1469 (Culture of Video Games)--in Carrier Library
- LB 1029 .G3 (Educational Games)--in Carrier Library
- Q 76.76 .C672 (Creating Video Games)--in Rose Library
- QA 269 (Gaming Theory)--in Rose Library
- GV 1469 (Culture of Video Games)--in Carrier Library
- Safari Books OnlineSafari Books Online is a fully-searchable e-reference library that houses a vast collection of technical books from industry-leading publishers. These titles are also in Quick Search and in JMU Library Catalog, but if you search through this link you can also search the entire text of each book--not just the titles and subjects.
Finding More Articles
Articles include scholarly articles describing research, trade journals which advise professionals in the gaming industry, and popular articles which point to market trends and sometimes refer to research and market reports.
- ABI InformThis index is great for finding articles about the business side of media.
- Google ScholarSearch the web for peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts, and articles from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint collections, universities and other scholarly organizations.
- PsycINFO An index with abstracts to journal articles, book chapters, books and dissertations in psychology and related disciplines (sociology, linguistics, anthropology, education, medicine, law, physiology, business, psychiatry, nursing, pharmacology).
- Finding Book and Film ReviewsQuick Search includes book reviews. If you want even more book reviews, take a look at this guide to our top book review sources.
Finding Research Reports and Market Reports
- IBISWorld IBISWorld is a collection of Industry Market Research reports of over 700 United States industries. For this class, look for the category "Video Games" near the bottom of the homepage.
- Mintel Oxygen Mintel Oxygen is a comprehensive resource full of reports on current issues in a wide array of domestic and international markets. For this class, search for "gaming."
- Pew InternetThe Pew Internet Project explores the impact of the Internet on American Life. Pew is great to use by browsing (Gaming) and by searching (gaming and women, gaming and genres). This source is particularly strong for learning how people feel about and use technology.
Keeping Track of Sources and Citing
- SkyDrive (Live@edu)JMU students have 25GB of free online storage with their JMU Live@edu account in the area called SkyDrive. You can share documents (like all the great articles you will be finding) with other students in this space!
- Creating Endnotes, Footnotes, and Bibliographies in WordLearn how to create footnotes, endnotes, citations and a bibliography in Microsoft Word with these Atomic Learning video tutorials.
- CheckCiteCheck your citation style for papers and speeches.
- ZoteroFree, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources.
- RefWorks RefWorks is a Web-based bibliography and database manager that allows you to create your own personal database of bibliographic records.
- RefWorks Basics (video)A 5-minute video tutorial by JMU Education Librarian Jonathan Paulo.
Top Ten Tips for Growing Your Research Based on One Great Item
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Develop a list of keywords and search for them everywhere
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Develop a list of experts and search for them everywhere
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Within databases, look for “More Like This” or subject headings
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Find that same item in another database, and then repeat #3 above
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Mine the works cited and literature review
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Search for your one great item in Scopus
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Browse the call numbers nearby
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Browse journal tables of contents
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Use the publisher’s search options
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Ask a librarian (keachja@jmu.edu)
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 Jennifer Keach Contact Info keachja@jmu.edu Carrier Library 1D Links: Profile & Guides |
More SMAD Guides
- Last Updated May 23, 2013
A guide to library research for SMAD affiliates.
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