Reference materials provide background or factual information on a topic. Most reference sources reside in the Reference area on the Main Floor of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library (one flight down from the Entry Floor). Some particularly useful communication reference sources follow.

| Abstracts and Indexes | | General Social Sciences Encyclopedias | | Industry and Production Directories | | Dictionaries | | Specialized Communication Encyclopedias | | Special Topics Bibliographies | | Research Methods |

Abstracts and Indexes

• Film Literature Index (Ref. Z5784.M9F45)
  Index to the international scholarly and trade journal literature of film. 1973 to present.
  
  
• Film Review Index (Ref. Z5784.M9 F513 1986 +)
  Provides citations to popular movie reviews from 1882-1985.
  
  
• Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts. La Jolla: Sociological Abstracts, 1967- (annual) (Ref. P1 L5)

General Social Sciences Encyclopedias

• International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2001. (Ref H41 .I58 2001)

Industry and Production Directories - locate people, production companies, and broadcast media outlets.

• Gale Directory of Media of Publications and Broadcast Media (Ref Desk Z 6951 N11 2003)
  
  
• Kemp's Film TV and Video Yearbook. London, Kemp's Printing and Pub. Co. (Ref PN1998 A1 K391)

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Dictionaries - definitions of terms in the discipline.

• Watson, James and Anne Hill. A Dictionary of Communication and Media Studies. 4th ed. London, New York: Arnold, St Martin's, 1997. (Ref P87.5 .W38 1997)
  
  
• Danesi, Marcel. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Semiotics, Media, and Communications. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000. (Ref P87.5 .D35 2000)
  
  
• Penney, Edmund. Facts on File Dictionary of Film and Broadcast. New York: Facts on File, 1991. (Ref P 87.5 P43 1991)
  
  
• Weiner, Richard. Webster's New World Dictionary of Media and Communications. New York: Webster's New World, 1990. (Ref P87.5 .W45 1990)

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Specialized Communication Encyclopedias

• Reina, Jorge. ed. Encyclopedia of Communication and Information. New York: Macmillan Reference, 2002. 3 v. (Ref P87.5 .E53 2002)
  
  
• Reed, Robert and Maxine. Encyclopedia of Television, Cable and Video. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold: 1992. (Ref P 87.5 R44 1992)
  
  
• Berger, Charles R. and Steven H. Shaffee, eds. Handbook of Communication Science. New York: Sage, 1987. (Ref P90 .H294 1987)
  
  
• Stempel III, Guido H. and Jacqueline Nash Gifford, eds. Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. (Ref JA85.2.U6 H57 1999)
  
  
• Hudson, Robert V. Mass Media: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Television, Radio, Motion Pictures, Magazines, Newspapers, and Books in the United States. Hudson, NY: Garland, 1987. (Ref P92.U5 H77 1987)

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Special Topics Bibliographies - most important books, articles and Web sites for certain research areas.

• Karolides, Nicholas J. Literature Suppressed on Political Grounds. New York: Facts on File, 1998. (Ref Z658.U5 K37)
  
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Research Methods - guides to successful research projects.

• Rubin, Rebecca B., Philip Palmgreen, and Howard E. Sypher, eds. Communication Research Measures: A Sourcebook. New York: Guilford Press, 1994. (Ref P91.3 .C62 1994)
  
  
• Hsia, H. J. Mass Communications Research Methods: A Step-by-Step Approach. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum, 1987. (Ref P91 .H75 1987)

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