Images, videos and plans: Media Studies toolkit
Finding and using visual media in your research and studies
Relevant UWA Library Guides
- Evaluating Information and Fake News UWA Library's guide to weeding out fake or misleading information.
- Newspapers UWA Library's guide to searching for newspapers and news sources
- Statistics and data UWA Library's guide to finding and using data and statistics
Law Beat
- AustLII (Australasian Legal Information Institute) Free database of publicly available legal information (eg; cases, legislation, journal articles about legal issues)
Data visualisation tools
Communicate and summarise data more effectively through a visual representation.
- Data Visualisation, Infographics and Online Journalism Journalist's Toolbox links to data visualisation tools portals and blogs.
- Tableau public Popular free visualisation tool.
- Visualising Data Data Visualisation website/blog about visualisation tools, resources and ideas.
Social media searching
- X Advanced Search Search X (formerly Twitter) using advanced search.
- Trendsmap (historic data) Provides access to historic Twitter data and analysis tools.
- Social Mentions Part of BrandMentions company. Track mentions of words on social media across time. Free version allows limited number of search results.
Contact us
Email your questions to our friendly library staff.
Students
HDR Students
UWA Staff
More contact options are available on the Library Contact us page.
Data and Statistics
- Guide on Stats basics - Statistics, data and test instruments guide This links to the UWA Library Guide on Statistics, data and test instruments: Key resources for international and Australian statistics and data, including Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australian census, economics, trade, industry, employment, transport and health.
- Guide on Australian Stats - Statistics, data and test instruments guide: ABS See the UWA Statistics, data and test instruments page on the use of ABS data.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) - Official homepage Home page of the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
- ABS Media Centre The ABS Media Centre provides journalists with access to key media resources. In the Media Centre you will find media releases, links to key statistics, information on how to understand and report statistics, as well as contact details for all media and data enquiries.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is a national statistical service which collects and makes available statistics and research on many aspects of Australian life, from demographics to industry and trade to social trends. The ABS also conducts the national Census of Population and Housing every 5 years.
Search via Statistics for information in the areas below - which are further broken down into more specific topics on the ABS website.
- Economy
- Labour
- Industry
- People
- Health
- Environment
- COVID-19
- Research
- Census
More advanced ABS analysis products such as TableBuilder Basic, TableBuilder Pro and Microdata are discussed in the UWA Library Statistics and Data guide.
Key journals
- Communication Research and Practice Communication Research and Practice aims to publish research that contributes to international scholarship and practice in the broadly defined field of communication. The journal aims to be broadly inclusive and interdisciplinary, with a particular interest in such fields as: digital media and internet studies; organisational and interpersonal communication; journalism, public relations and advertising; intercultural communication; international communication; and political communication.
- Public Opinion Quarterly Published since 1937, Public Opinion Quarterly is among the most frequently cited journals of its kind. Such interdisciplinary leadership benefits academicians and all social science researchers by providing a trusted source for a wide range of high quality research. POQ selectively publishes important theoretical contributions to opinion and communication research, analyses of current public opinion, and investigations of methodological issues involved in survey validity-- including questionnaire construction, interviewing and interviewers, sampling strategy, and mode of administration.
- Journal of Communication The Journal of Communication is the flagship journal of the International Communication Association and an essential publication for all communications specialists and policy makers. The Journal of Communication concentrates on communication research, practice, policy, and theory. Journal of Communication also features an extensive book review section, and the symposia of selected studies on current issues. JoC publishes the best available scholarship on all aspects of communication.
- Communication Research Communication Research (CR), peer-reviewed and published bi-monthly, has provided researchers and practitioners with the most up-to-date, comprehensive and important research on communication and its related fields. It publishes articles that explore the processes, antecedents, and consequences of communication in a broad range of societal systems.
Find journals on your topic in OneSearch:
- Search your topic on OneSearch.
- Click on "Resource Type" on the left panel to expand and click "Journals".
Government sites
- ABS Media Centre The ABS Media Centre provides journalists with access to key media resources. In the Media Centre you will find media releases, links to key statistics, information on how to understand and report statistics, as well as contact details for all media and data enquiries.
- Hansard - Parliament of Western Australia The official record of parliamentary debates.
- Parliament of Australia Parliament of Australia home page.
- Parliament of Western Australia - Advanced Search Search the entire Parliament web site, or limit searches to nominated sections such as Bills, Chamber Documents, Committees or Tabled Papers.
- ParlInfo - Advanced Search Search the entire Parliament web site, or limit searches to nominated sections such as Hansard, Bills, Chamber Documents, Committees or Tabled Papers, etc.
Elections
- Australian Politics and Elections Database This website has been created by researchers associated with the University of Western Australia and is intended for anyone who wants to find out general information about Australian parliamentary politics and elections.
Opinion polls
- Australian Data Archive (ADA) The Australian Data Archive (ADA) provides a national service for the collection and preservation of high quality enhanced digital research data for secondary analysis, including a significant collection of Opinion and News Poll data. UWA staff and students are entitled to download Australian Social Science Data Archive material after completing an 'undertaking' form. Registered users (registration is free) can also analyse and visualise most data online.
- The Poll Bludger Analysis and discussion of elections and opinion polls in Australia
Google resources
- Google Trends See trends over time in how often people have searched particular words on Google. Explore Trending Stories in real time by category and location.
Selected journalism and digital media news blogs and web resources
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
- Encyclopedia of international media and communications (Part of the Credo Reference collection) The Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications exhaustively explores the ways that editorial content - from journalism and scholarship to films and infomercials - is developed, presented, stored, analyzed, and regulated around the world. For readers and researchers of all levels, the Encyclopedia provides perspective and context about content, delivery systems, and their myriad relationships, as well as clearly drawn avenues for further research. Entries are arranged alphabetically from Adversary, Role of Media as to Zimbabwe, Status of Media in.
- Credo Reference Credo Reference is an online reference library. Over 400 titles are included in the collection. Credo Reference includes encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations. Titles in this collection can be searched individually or the entire collection can be cross-searched or you may choose to search across a selection of titles.
- Encyclopedia of communication theory Provides students and researchers with a comprehensive overview of contemporary communication theory. Entries address topics related not only to paradigms, traditions, and schools, but also metatheory, methodology, inquiry, and applications and contexts
A Dictionary of Media and Communication by
This dictionary includes over 2,200 concise, accessible, and extensively cross-referenced entries for terms regularly encountered by students and professionals working within the diverse fields of media and communication studies, including advertising, digital culture, new media, telecommunications, and visual culture.
ISBN: 9780199568758Publication Date: 2011-04-01
Dictionary of Media and Communications by
This authoritative reference provides a complete listing of media concepts, figures, and techniques with illustrations and historical commentaries.
ISBN: 9780765624673Publication Date: 2009-01-01
Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies by
(Part of the Credo Reference collection) The Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies has provided students and the general public alike with a gateway into the study of intercultural communication, public relations and marketing communications since 1984. In this 9th edition, James Watson and Anne Hill provide a detailed compendium of the different facets of personal, group, mass-media and internet communication that continues to be a vital source of information for all those interested in how communication affects our lives.
ISBN: 9781628921489Publication Date: 2015-10-22
CONTENT LICENCE
Except for logos, Canva designs, AI generated images or where otherwise indicated, content in this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.
Staff & Students
The University of Western Australia
CRICOS Code: 00126G
PRV12169, Australian University
PRV12169, Australian University