Open Textbooks
- Launch! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time
“Launch! follows a real advertising campaign from initial agency pitch through roll-out of print and media assets to post-campaign analysis. Throughout, it exposes readers to the theory and concepts of advertising and promotion, and the personalities and decisions that drove this campaign. The book takes a rare look “behind the curtain” – even letting you see some of the paths not chosen by the agency and client. Students get a realistic sense of how theory plays out in practice.”
Open Textbook Collections
Multimedia
- YouTube
- Search YouTube by keyterms and try filtering by channel or “Creative Commons” license (these videos are specifically labeled for reuse).
- Tip: try searching YouTube by the title of your favorite journal publication to see if that journal also produces a YouTube channel.
- TED Talks
- A collection of TED Talks and playlists a variety of topics. Browse topics here.
- Khan Academy
- lecture videos from 1-30 minutes in length
- Videos through the CSUSM Library
- Select “Books & More” tab and use these limits: Full Text Available Online and Audio Visual.
- Library Media Reserves, including Video on Demand option (allows you to stream videos to CSUSM students). Keep in mind that you should leave at least 1 week of lead time for processing these requests.
- Podcasts
- On the Media, WNYC’s weekly investigation into how the media shapes our world view.
Ebooks in the Library
The CSUSM University Library has an extensive collection of ebooks on a variety of topics. To find what’s available:
- Go to the University Library homepage
- Choose “Books and More”
- Enter keywords and search
- Use the limiters to narrow by “Full Text Online” to ensure all results can be accessed directly from your computer
- Limit by “Books” to filter out journals and media
Journal Articles
Consider including journal articles as required or supplemental reading for your courses. Search through our communication databases for articles. Just be sure to direct students to the article by permalink (or static URL) rather than posting the PDF directly in your Cougar Course. This will ensure two things: 1) that we are complying with copyright and publisher restrictions, and 2) that our journal usage is counted (this allows us to justify maintaining our subscriptions).
This page provides examples illustrating how to find permalinks in the Library’s databases.
Please contact your librarian if you are still unsure of how to find the permalink.
Saylor.org Communication Major
Free courses in the areas of Mass Communication and Communication Studies. Some are open, while some are planned for the future.- Basic photography for the mass media
“This class for beginning mass media photographers and photojournalists includes illustrated exercises, practical principles, videos, readings and portfolios. Also available is a nine-part self-guided Photoshop tutorial, and downloadable photos for practice.”
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“This class-based tutorial takes you through American history through the vision of the nation’s mass media. It includes videos, a gallery of photos and publications from the past, as well as readings and exercises. Features include a history of photography and a video and essay explaining plagiarism.”
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MIT’s Media Arts and Sciences departments offers many online courses. Course format generally includes, lecture videos, interactive concept quizzes (solution key), problem sets, terms and definitions, suggested topics and links, and exams (with solution key).
Audacity
AudiobooOther CSUSM Library Resources
More information about finding and using library resources can be found on the Communication & Mass Media Research Guide.
Suggestions
Have a good idea for a free resource? Tell us about it! Email your subject specialist.
Open Courseware