ABSTRACT. The existence of widely available large, multi-subject, online databases calls into question the necessity for small, disciplinespecific indexes to support research. This study attempts to determine whether the online Communication Studies indexes provide access to the journal literature that researchers in the field actually cite and whether, where the current journal literature is concerned, that access is in any way superior to that provided by large, multi-subject, online indexes.
In a prior edition of this study, we examined whether the established online communication studies indexes-Communication Abstracts, ComIndex, and ComAbstracts-provided a good avenue of access to the journal literature that researchers in the field cite and whether, where the current journal literature was concerned, that avenue of access might be equal or superior to that provided by large, multisubject online indexes. In David C. Tyler is a Reference Librarian and the departmental liaison for Sociology and for Anthropology and Geography at
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