PRL 206 - Public Relations Principles and Concepts (Spring 2024)

Summon: Make the most of entering search queries into Summon** (the current main, general search engine for library collections).

Article Databases:  For PRL 206 (and most research within Public Relations) be sure to also explore a few other article databases recommended on this PRL 206 guide

Sorting and Filtering Search Results: With both Summon and individual article databases- is the ability to search a proper name of a company or other organization, government agency, person or a named theory within public relations -and then sort results chronologically.  One can also apply other search result filters (e.g., for limiting what you see to a desired content/source type or desired range of publication dates or, in Summon searching, to categories under what Summon calls "area of study").   

Local Examples:  If you happen to have a focus on a smaller, local or regional organization as part of your research, those may not often be mentioned (sometimes not at all) within the larger, national/international academic databases such as ProQuest or others mentioned on this guide.  But looking to the Syracuse.com subpage of this guide, if researching news coverage of an organization that is smaller and very local to the Syracuse area. And the best news database option for that is Newsbank's Syracuse News Sources and/or searching of Syracuse.com directly

Other general database searching tips -

• Use advanced search screens and search result filters for greater control over source materials retrieved in your searches [on a search screen for Summon showing only a single query window, click on "options" to see a wider range of search result refinement possibilities]
• Those options are hidden if you limit yourself to only Google style single search window queries or limit yourself to initial results at top level of the main library website.
• Use to the fullest the relevant results you see from single query window search results but be aware if limiting yourself only to those results you may be missing many otherwise relevant sources.
• Be on the look-out for patterns in your results, noticing if many results often coming back to you originate from within a specific named database, or from within a specific named trade magazine title or scholarly journal title, with content relevant to public relations (then, also focus on further searching and browsing within those source environments which are tending to show you relevant content most frequently.).

**NOTE - FOR RESEARCH BEYOND SPRING SEMESTER:  At the end of June 2024, the SU Libraries website will be replacing its Summon search engine with an upgraded, newer user interface - that will offer similar options for entering and refining searches, but with an updated look and layout

These PR career specializations should closely match those in PRL research assignments  - and may also help with the final research papers in PRL 206 as well.

Another technique that may help in locating article discussion about Public Relations within a specific delimited industry environment is to select a major database for that field and then enter search phrases such as "public relations."  Or experiment with entry of other term(s) pertinent to the PR field, which may include specific job titles one sees in the public relations field.

Tip - Search Terminology:  within certain discourse communities for some of these sub-disciplines, when speaking about "public relations" related activities, members working within some specialization areas may not always literally use that phrase itself ("public relations"). In both government and also nonprofit contexts, other terminology may be equally or more common (e.g., in the nonprofit world one thinks of terms like "community," "community outreach," "community relations," etc. OR in entertainment, a  job title such as "publicist."). So as you encounter those, or analogous alternative wordings, be sure to employ them within some of your search queries.

PR Counseling ("Agencies")

Education

Financial PR & Investor Relations

Although activities in this career sub-field are different, consider using the article database(s) recommended for PR Agencies

Sports/Sport Management

Travel and Tourism

The database called ScienceDirect contains current and back issues of the scholarly journal, Annals of Tourism Research. This is SU Libraries Classic Catalog listing for Annals of Tourism Research (click on the 'get it' link to navigate into recent and older articles; for tthis title, also be sure to click on the link labeled "show more full text options to see links to online access to that academic journal source, with a focus on travel and tourism).  Another journal those working in this specialization may wish to explore is entitled Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Nonprofit Sector (Primarily Non-Arts Related)

Political & Government PR

Government Relations, Public Affairs, and Lobbying

Health and Healthcare Industries

Arts and Entertainment

Corporate (Community Relations & Social Responsibilities Programs)

Beauty & Fashion 

The U.S. Department of Labor supports freely available online tools for individuals exploring career opportunities.  These lead to current information and data about skills, industry trends and salaries – [not as descriptive as trade publication articles or books, but great overviews].  Also helpful in providing job classification titles that might represent good search terms when exploring PR using licensed databases or search engines:

• O*NET Online
  See especially the detailed entries for "public relations specialist" and "public relations manager"
• Occupational Outlook Handbook 

Crowdsourced careers and salary information also appears on the social media platform Glassdoor https://www.glassdoor.com/ .  Be aware data here is employee contributed. Often providing data unavailable elsewhere, but self-selection among those deciding to participate may problematize broader conclusions.  Especially when assessing salary and related trends reported by individuals, use multiple sources and databases to explore if Glassdoor data seems reliable or off-base for specific job classifications you investigate. Be a savvy evaluator of these trends. Past salary data may not reflect future directions for those numbers.

• Google Scholar:  Adding to some of the database and Summon searching above - additional search queries in Google Scholar may sometimes open up some informal academic reports or other research papers presented at conferences that discuss a specific subspecialization within public relations or related career trends and notable activities in those contexts.
   
• If a source is identified from Google Scholar searches and one is not sure how to determine if access is or is not available at SU, you can email the Newhouse School Librarian at mjpasqua@syr.edu
   
• Remember that some conference publications at times may restrict access only to those who attended that event or other times may be a publication where access is limited to paid members belonging to a specific professional organization.

News databases also may help many PRL 206 students when seeking background information on an organization for the final project in the course.  Contact the Newhouse Librarian if seeking a specific news database recommendation

For a gateway to additional newspaper databases SU Libraries offers - visit the online research guide site called Newspaper Databases

Two leading examples of superb news source aggregator databases (including business news) that are great alternatives to Nexis Uni include:

Access World News Access Tip:  Access World News (Newsbank) has been expanding its range of full page imaged newspaper archives of current and recent content, with titles like The Guardian, The Independent, and more local to the SU Hill, Syracuse Post-Standard.  A handy way to see all such page imaged newspaper collections from the Access World News homepage is to click on the A-Z Source List, then click on the column heading for "Format" so that the format type called "image" sorts the page imaged newspaper titles toward the top of that A to Z list.

Viewing either or both of these brief instructional screencasts also may help you in your quest for relevant source material in PRL 206.  Just be sure to convert the general examples demonstrated into use of search terminology with the same tools that is specific to the study and practice of public relations and related fields.

The focus in the following demonstration involves examples primarily of how to located scholarly journal articles.  These search techniques can also be applied in PRL 206. 

• Keep in mind that some relevant source material for PRL 206 may be found at times not only within the use of the Summon content type called "journal article," as demonstrated in this screencast, but also use of Summon content type search result refinements such as "trade publication article" or "book/ebook" or "book chapter" or "reference"
• This screencast also shows how to locate databases using the library's main "view all databases" menus, but do not overlook sets of the specific article databases recommended within this PRL 206 library course guide - those listed as "best bets" as well as librarian recommended databases for specific career specializations within PR