Publishing

This research guide will provide you with starting points for finding information on publishing.

 Other relevant guides:
For more information contact Cathy Costa, Liaison Librarian for School of Applied Communication.

Background information

Find definitions and background information using a selection of dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks and introductory textbooks available online and in our Library's collection.

  • Australian Writer’s Dictionary, 423 A938, Swanston
  • A-Z of Authorship, REF 808.020994 M592, Swanston
  • Margaret Gee’s Australian Media Guide, REF 070.016 M327, Swanston
  • Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, REF 423.1 O98, Swanston
  • See also Dictionaries, encyclopedias and more (http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/reference/dictionaries/)

Books, audiovisual and journals

Use the Library catalogue (http://www.lib.rmit.edu.au/catalogue.php) when searching for books, audiovisual material and journal names. If you see 'Find It' button in the catalogue record, click on it to link to an electronic version of the title. Help is available on how to make the most of our catalogue (http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/info-trek/searching/catalogue/).

Catalogue search tips:  Keyword search looks for words in any order - a good starting point. Browse search looks for words in the exact order they are entered - use for known titles or subject headings.

Browse the catalogue records using subject headings

  • Editing
  • Printing
  • Publishing
  • Typography

Browse the shelves using call numbers

  • Bookselling: 381.450
  • Copyright Law: 346.048
  • Editing: 070.41
  • Ethics: 170
  • Marketing: 380.1
  • Printing: 686.2
  • Publishing: 070.5
  • Typography: 686.22

Suggested journals and e-journals

Suggested audiovisual titles

Databases

Databases give subject access to information found in journals, conference papers, newspapers, reports and other publications. Some databases provide the full text of publications online, others only index journals or provide summaries of the articles. In many cases you can link to the full text by clicking on the 'Find it' button.

Access: The databases listed below are available to RMIT students and staff on and off campus. (NDS login and password are required for remote access http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/remote/).  More databases can be found on Search It (http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/searchit/).

  • APA-Full Text - Australian political economic, legal, social and cultural affairs.  Indexes Australian Bookseller and Publisher.
  • APAIS (Australian Public Affairs Information Service) - A bibliographic database that indexes articles from published material on the Social Sciences and Humanities from 1978 onwards.
  • Arts Hub Australia - The online home for Australian arts workers.  Contains employment opportunities and Australia's only arts industry news service.
  • AUSTLII - Australasian Legal Information Institute - Over 1,000 fulltext Australian (federal) acts and selected law reports.
  • AustLit: the resource for Australian literature provides authoritative information on hundreds of thousands of creative and critical Australian literature works - published in a range of print and electronic sources - and on more than  60,000 Australian authors and literary organisations, from 1780 to the present day.
  • ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) - ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) have conducted regular surveys of the publishing industry since 1994.
  • Communication and Mass Media Complete - Over 200 titles full-text and contains citation coverage for additional sources.  In total, several hundred valuable sources are covered.  Indexes Publishing Research Quarterly.
  • EBSCO Business Source Premier - Full-text database containing over 2,900 journals with Australian content.  Indexes Editor & Publisher and Book Publishing Report.
  • Expanded Academic ASAP - From arts and the humanities to social sciences, science and technology, this database meets research needs across all academic disciplines with full text and images. Indexes Publisher’s Weekly.
  • Factiva is the major source for Australian newspapers - both the Fairfax and Murdoch press, and has exclusive rights to the Australian Financial Review & the Business Review Weekly. It is a Dow Jones & Reuters Company product and offers content from over 9,000 sources of information.
  • Global Market Information Database (GMID) - Market profiles and key players; company, market share and performance indicators, retail statistics.
  • IBISWorld  News, key statistics, market characteristics, segmentation, industry conditions, key competitors.
  • MLA International Bibliography (EBSCO) - Offers a detailed bibliography of journal articles, books and dissertations, on communication, journalism, media, public relations and historical aspects of printing and publishing.
  • netlibrary - Multidisciplinary database of e-books which includes marketing, advertising, design, art and business.
  • Ozlife - Australian Biography and Books Review Index - Australian biography and book review index provides access to the citations of articles, either biographical or book reviews, in major Australian newspapers and journals.
  • Project Muse  provides access to 167 full-text scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences
  • Proquest - A compilation of over 23 databases with international coverage of all disciplines.
    • Academic Research Library (ProQuest) covers amongst other topics arts, business, education, general interest and humanities.
      Academic Research Library covers amongst other topics creative media, printing, art and culture.
  • Communication Studies: SAGE full-text collection - A full-text database covering advertising, journalism and public relations.
  • TVNews (Informit) - indexes Australian television news, current affairs and selected documentaries from free-to-air networks with links to the digitised video content in a compressed format.  Updated daily.

Reserve and eReserve

The Reserve and eReserve collections are made up of material that academic and teaching staff have identified as being in high demand and may include: lecture notes, subject guides, prescribed and recommended readings, high use audiovisual/multimedia resources and past exams/solutions. Some of the items will be available for a two hour loan in the Library, whilst others will be available online.

Look for reserve material on our catalogue. If you need help, read:

Newspapers

  • Factiva provides full-text access to major Australian and international newspapers.
  • See also our guide to News and newspapers (http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/reference/news/)

Theses

Opinions and reviews

  • Australian book review via APA-Full Text - A monthly journal of essays and reviews of new Australian fiction, poetry and literature, PER 028 A9, Carlton,  Bundoora, Swanston
  • Book review index, Index to book reviews published from 1969 to the present, REF 028.105 B724, Bundoora
  • Booklist via Proquest - Produced by the American Library Association. Reviews the latest books and (more recently) electronic media.
  • The New York times book review via Proquest

Biographical information

  • Current Biography index, REF 920 C976, Swanston
  • International who’s who, REF 920.02 I61, Swanston
  • Larousse Dictionary of Writers, REF 809 L332, Carlton
  • OzLit Australian Writers Database (http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ozlit/)
  • Who’s who in Australia, REF 920.094 W628, Swanston

Directories, guides and handbooks

  • Australian Book Contracts, REF 070.52 A938, Swanston
  • Australian Editing Handbook, REF 808.027 F585, Swanston
  • Australian Writer’s Marketplace, REF 070.502594 A938, Swanston
  • Directory of Australian Publishers, REF 070.50994 D598, Swanston
  • International Who’s Who of Authors & Writers, REF 808 I612, Swanston
  • Style Manual for Authors, Editors & Printers (http://www.agimo.gov.au/information/publishing/style_ manual), REF 808.027 S938, Swanston
  • Willing's press guide, REF 070.1025 W733, Swanston

Standards

  • Australian Standards Online contains the full text of all current Australian Standards and draft Australian standards to which Standards Australia holds the copyright. ISO and IEC standards are also indexed, but the full text is not available online.
  • See also Standards collection (http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/standards/) for further information.

People and organisations

  • Directory of Australian associations, REF 068.94 D598, Swanston
  • Directory of Australian Publishers, REF 070.50994 D598, Swanston
  • Whitaker’s Red Book: the Directory of Publishers, REF 070.5 P976, Swanston

Statistics

  • ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) provides access to all ABS Publications
    • Reports are also available in print, REF 319.4 A938, Business and Swanston
    • Census data (CLIB'91 & '96) available from standalone terminals in Bundoora, Business and Swanston

Legal resources

  • Austlii (http://www.austlii.edu.au) contains current versions of Commonwealth and Victorian legislation.
  • See also our guide to Law and legislation (http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/law/)

Subject gateways and search engines

Doing Research

  • Assignment and thesis writing, 808.02 A547, Brunswick, Bundoora, Business and Swanston
  • Introduction to research methods, 370.78 B967, Bundoora, Business and Swanston
  • A manual for writers of term papers, theses and dissertations, 808.066 T929, Swanston
  • MLA style manual for writers of research papers, 808.02 G437, Swanston
  • Practical research methods, online via netLibrary, or 001.42 D272, Bundoora, Business and Swanston
  • The research student's guide to success, 808.02 C957 Swanston, Business
  • The responsible conduct of research, 174.95 B365, Swanston
  • Starting research: an introduction to academic research and dissertation writing, 808.066 P23, Swanston and Business
  • Style manual for authors, editors and printers, 808.02 S938, available in general and reference (REF) collections at all Libraries
  • The unobtrusive researcher : a guide to methods, 300.72 K29, Swanston
  • Electronic styles: a handbook for citing electronic information, REF 808.02 L693, Bundoora, Business, Carlton and Swanston
  • See also: