Thursday, February 26, 2009

"Sexting" and other very recent language searches

Ok, So I'm teaching a library session for a writing class, and a lot of the language that students use simply doesn't show up in an academic journal. When you're looking for Jessica Simpson and the media focus on her weight, you need more information on the issue before you dive into JSTOR (because she simply isn't there -yet). And how about finding words like "sexting"; (sending nude pics via cell phone). That word seems to have been made up yesterday for all intents and purposes. Newspapers my friend! They've been coining phrases and words for years. They also point to more academic sources, authors and keywords. Here at the library, many of the newspapers (including the ones you see in print), now have an online version. We have several databases that aggregate many newspapers so you can search for very very recent issues across the country and recent years.

Try: ProQuest Newspapers, Global Newsbank
Or Try: All of the newspapers databases we offer
Or Try: The title of a newspaper you happen to know in the library catalog

1 comment:

Miss L said...

Dale, that's now one of my all time favorite headlines from the NYT. :)Laurenda Peters

ps. The blog is GREAT! It's on my Google Reader and I enjoy it tremendously. Kudos to you and all the other Info Lit Blogging librarians!