RHE 398t | PmWiki / Following the Conversation

Try using the tips and tricks below to follow conversations between authors in the popular and scholarly literature and to find reactions to articles and blog posts.

A) Newspapers

In newspapers, check the Letters to the Editor for a few days after a column appears to see reaction/disagreement.

TIP! To find these reactions in a newspaper database like LexisNexis, search for the title of the column or article to find other references to it.

B) Magazines

Check the next few issues for letters/responses.

TIP! To find these reactions in a database like Academic Search Complete, search for the title of the article to find other references to it.

C) Scholarly Journals

Check the next few issues or look for entire issues devoted to or with large parts devoted to discussion of a controversial work.
Follow citations to find articles that reference a work.

TIP! GoogleScholar and select library databases (Web of Science is one example) will include a "Cited By" or "Times Cited" link for an article, which will link you to other articles that have referenced that work.

D) Blogs

Look for "Trackback" posts at the bottom of a blog posting that reveal other blogs linking to that post.
Use Technorati to find blog reactions to news items or other blog posts.
Use "link:" before a URL in Google to find other sites linking to a post.

E) Books

Use GoogleBooks to search for books that include a work in its references. Use the book or article title as a search term.

Suggested Resources/Databases

See the Finding Articles section and the Determining and Evaluating Context section