Welcome to the MDST 4510 library dashboard. This dashboard provides links to a selection of resources that will be helpful in conducting research. Whether you are online or on-Grounds, UVA Library services and support are available to all students.
Your Librarian is Erin Pappas
Each school/department at UVA is assigned a research librarian. Connect with Erin for help with your assignments. This service is available to all students. Meeting with a librarian early in your research process can help you save time and research more efficiently.
Erin can help with: locating academic sources, brainstorming research topics, developing search strategies, capstone/thesis/dissertation planning, identifying relevant databases/journals for your research and literature reviews, and citation management. Meetings take place online via Zoom, but can also be arranged for in-person.
Searches materials that UVA owns and has access to. This means books and e-books, journal articles, films, images, and some primary sources. Advanced search will give you more specificity and fine-tuning.
When you find a citation in a bibliography or referenced in another work, you can look for the full text in the following places:
Virgo - Generally books and articles; only those UVA library owns
Google Scholar - Good for tracking down PDFs and chapters
Open web search - Install LibKeyNomad to surface full-text
If none of these options take you to the book or article, you can always email Erin, or try Interlibrary Loan.
Searching Virgo - Keywords and Subject Headings
Tip: Start with keyword searching until you find some good results. Then use the item record in Virgo to narrow down subject headings. This isn’t an exact science, but it is a good starting place. It can also help you to get a sense of what kinds of materials are out there, and how they categorize your subject.
Sage Research Methods is a methods library with more than 1000 books, reference works, journal articles, and instructional videos by world-leading academics from across the social sciences, including the largest collection of qualitative methods books available online from any scholarly publisher.
Academic databases contain peer-reviewed articles, dissertations, reviews, reports, and more.
These selected databases provide an entry point into core disciplines relevant to AI, Media Studies, and society.
Oxford Handbooks Online brings together leading scholars to discuss research and the latest thinking on a range of major topics. Each Handbook offers thorough introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship in a particular field of study, creating an original conception of the field and setting the agenda for new research. The articles review the key issues and major debates, and provide an original argument for how those debates might evolve. UVa has access to all subjects.
A social sciences digital library that provides access to thousands of eBook and eReference titles, including scholarly monographs, reference works, handbooks, series, and professional development titles.
Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects — from Public Health to Buddhist Ethics, Soft Matter to Classics, and Art History to Globalization. Each volume provides an authoritative and engaging assessment of a concept, field, or body of work, drawing out the central ideas, themes, and approaches.
Access to: Arts & Humanities, Law, Medicine & Health, Science & Mathematics, and Social Sciences.