JOURNALISM 190: BEYOND GOOGLE AND WIKIPEDIA (Professors Grefe and Richardson)  

An introduction to information sources that academic researchers, journalists, public relations and advertising professionals rely on increasingly in the digital age to conduct scholarly research, report and write news stories, and to find, analyze and present research on trends in mass communications. Students learn how to evaluate sources of information for credibility and quality, while they strengthen their basic research skills to go beyond Google and dig below the surface of today’s high-tech information world.

If you have suggestions, questions, or comments about this site, please contact Dick Grefe.

• As a matter of courtesy, please turn off electronic devices unless they are being used for taking notes for this class.  Please do not use class time to access (electronically or otherwise) materials unrelated to the course.
• Final grades will be determined almost entirely by performance on assignments associated with weekly lectures.
• Late papers are not accepted and will receive no credit. Completed assignments generally will be due by 5:00 PM on the Friday following Tuesday's class meeting.  5:01 is too late.
• Attendance is taken into consideration in formulation of final grades.
• There will be no mechanism (extra credit, make-up assignments, etc.) to raise grades.

• September 11 -- Introduction and Web Site Tour
• September 18 -- Selected Reference Sources (Grefe)
• September 25 -- Periodicals Research Overview  (Grefe/Richardson)
• October 2 -- "General" Periodical Databases (Grefe)
• October 9 -- Specialized Periodical Databases  (Grefe)
• October 16 -- Finding and Evaluating Books (Grefe)
• October 23 -- U.S. Governments Information  (Grefe)
• October 30 -- Government Records: Birth and Taxes to Mortgages and Death (Richardson)
• November 6 -- Details, Details, Details: Census to Sex Offender Databases (Richardson)
• November 13 -- Court Records Online and Offline (Richardson)
• November 27 -- Scrubs: Backgrounding People and Companies (Richardson)
• December 4 -- Scrubs: Backgrounding People and Companies (Richardson)

Assignments in the class will make extensive use of the American Psychological Association (APA) Style.

Here is what you need.

Hacker's Research and Documentation guide is the easiest to use.