Welcome!
This guide introduces resources to support your research topics in game design. Use the tabs at the top of the page to help you locate background information on your topic, articles, books, and more.
If you need assistance with your research or help using library resources, please contact me, schedule an appointment, or Ask a Librarian.
Key Resources
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Academic Search Complete (Ebscohost)A multidisciplinary database useful for researching a broad range of topics. Includes newspaper, magazine, and academic peer-reviewed articles.
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ACM Digital LibraryContains full-text access to most Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) periodicals and conference proceedings. Coverage of computer science, engineering, information science.
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Art, Design, and Architecture Collection (ProQuest)Scholarly and trade articles, books, and conference proceedings in the fields of visual and applied arts.
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Business Source Complete (EBSCOhost)Articles from academic journals, magazines and trade publications covering a range of business topics. Useful for researching the business aspects of games and game design.
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Communications & Mass Media Complete (EBSCOhost)Scholarly articles covering communication, mass media, rhetoric, and other closely related fields. Useful for the business aspects of game design, such as advertising.
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CompendexJournal and trade articles, conference proceedings, books and more covering engineering disciplines, including computers, data processing, and electronics and communications.
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Computers & Applied Sciences Complete (EBSCOhost)Articles covering computing, technology and engineering disciplines. Useful for studying the business and social implications of new technology.
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Education Research Complete (EBSCOhost)Contains scholarly research articles related to education, covering early childhood to higher education and all educational specialties.
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IEEEXplore (IEEE/IET Electronic Library)Publications in electrical engineering, computer science, information technology, and electronics from Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) journals, transactions, magazines, and conference proceedings. Maximum number of users at a time: 15.
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PsycInfo (Ebscohost)A database that includes articles, journals, books, and more for psychology and related disciplines. Published by the American Psychological Association. Useful for researching psychological aspects of games.
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PubMed (NU customized)PubMed is a health-focused database from the National Library of Medicine, encompassing Medline,a health information clearinghouse of articles from the National Library of Medicine, plus articles deposited by authors and publishers as part of National Institutes of Health funding requirements. This is a good resource for articles focused on the health impacts of games.
Need help developing a research topic?
Consider using some of the strategies below to help you get started:
- Think about something that interests you and would interest others in the field. Talk with instructors, classmates, or librarians, or look over course readings.
- Review recent issues of journals or industry periodicals to explore recent articles in the field. Search by keywords related to your topic in a database and note which journals publish articles of interest. Search for those journals in the E-Journal Finder and view recent issues' table of contents. Here are a few sample journals:
- Browse subject headings in databases. Subject headings are very specific terms that have been applied to an item (a book, an article, etc.) by a cataloger to summarize that item's content. Look for an online thesaurus in a database or perform a keyword search and look for the subject heading field in a few relevant items in your search results. Here are a few sample subject headings in Scholar OneSearch:
Research Methods
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Sage Research MethodsFamiliarize yourself with various research methods through short entries, books, dictionary definitions, case studies, and more.
Creative Services at the Library
Design & SoftwareTutorials
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LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com)
Video learning courses on 3D and animation, Adobe software, and R statistical processing language, and more. New courses added weekly.
Northeastern University Library's Board Gaming Collection
Board games have the ability to promote teamwork as well as strategic and collaborative thinking while fostering community. The board game collection at Northeastern University Library provides students, staff, and faculty with a recreational outlet while also supporting academic research.
Board games can be checked out from the Help and Information Desk in the library's lobby.
