LSC 155: Life Sciences Communication. First-Year Seminar in Science Communication (Fall 2025) : Library Resources
Start Here
The UW-Madison Libraries have millions of books and hundreds of databases to support your research. Below are a few great places to start.
Search for scholarly sources on your topic before you start writing to support your hypothesis with researched results.
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Library CatalogSearch for print and ebooks at UW-Madison, UW System libraries, and the Wisconsin Historical Society.
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Opposing Viewpoints in ContextTopic overviews, viewpoint articles, statistics, primary documents, and full text magazine and newspaper articles related to controversial social issues. (1990 - present)
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Communication & Mass Media CompleteEBSCO database covering advertising, marketing, film/video, game studies, journalism, communication, mass media, linguistics, rhetoric, language, logic, and other closely related fields.
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List of databases for getting startedLibrarians have created a short list of databases that work well for getting started with a topic.
Tips for Finding Books and Scholarly Articles
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Searching the Library CatalogThis tutorial will help you find books using the Library Catalog.
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Locating Article DatabasesThis tutorial will explain how you can search by name or by subject/topic to locate the hundreds of databases the UW-Madison Libraries license/subscribe to.
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Searching DatabasesThis tutorial provides strategies for effective database searching, including common database features and functionality.
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Locating a Specific ArticleThis tutorial will explain how to find articles through the UW-Madison Libraries’ Article Search tool.
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All Library Research TutorialsCheck out these tutorials for help conducting library research, accessing resources, and using library services.
Getting Full Text Articles & Book Chapters
Follow 
(Find It button) or the "Find It at UW Madison" link in most databases to:
- access online full text (when available)
- see if the journal or book is available in print if it is not accessible online
- request a free pdf of the article or book chapter if full text is not available online (Request a Copy)
If you already have a citation, use this Citation Search to search for your article.
Newspaper Subscriptions through UW-Madison
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Set up your account for The New York TimesUW-Madison students, faculty, and staff have free access to The New York Times Digital (NYTImes.com) through the UW-Madison Libraries.
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Set up your account for the Wall Street JournalWSJ.com is now available campus-wide thanks to a recent purchase and license by the General Library System. Faculty, staff, and students can register for their own accounts with these resources using their wisc.edu email address.