Political Science 201: American Federal Government

Spring 2007
Professor Bengtson

Finding Books in the Library Catalog

Use I-Share, the Library Catalog, to search for books on your debate topic.

Use Subject Headings for more efficient searching:

Some suggestions for Subject Headings:

• Crime --United States
• African Americans --Legal status, laws, etc.
• Judicial process--United States.
• Social security --United States.
• Same-sex marriage
• Expert Testimony.

The Library also has three book series that may be useful to your debate research.

Opposing Viewpoints ~ has books on discrimination, race relations, interracial America, social justice, and working women.
Taking Sides ~ looks at race and ethnicity, controversial legal issues, complex economic and social topics, and human sexuality.
Current Controversies ~ examines the current debates on such topics as the disabled, ethics, gay rights, minorities, nationalism and ethnic conflict, racism, and sexual harassment.

To find these books, use Advanced Search, put your topic terms in as an Any Word Anywhere search and then put the book series name in as Series Title.

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Finding Journal and Magazine Articles

Which article databases are good starting places for my search?

• Academic Search Premier ~ A good place to start. Includes references to scholarly as well as popular periodicals.

• Periodical Abstracts ~ Includes indexing, abstracting, and some full text for magazine and journal articles.

• WilsonSelectPlus ~ Includes indexing, abstracting, and full text for a variety of magazines and journals.

• CQ Researcher ~ An excellent source for current hot topics. Each individual issue contains historical background, a timeline, current status, and potential future developments. The bibliographies are especially helpful in finding useful sources.

 

Where can I find newspaper articles?

• New York Times ~ full text back to 1999, with indexing available back to 1990.
  
• Chicago Tribune ~ full text from 1985 to present.
  
• Lexis-Nexis Academic ~ accesses a variety of news and business sources, many of which are full text
  
• Wall Street Journal ~ full text from 1985 to present.

  
  
• Newspaper Source ~ full text from more than 100 U.S. and international newspapers. Includes sources such as USA Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The (London) Times, and transcripts from NPR's Morning Edition

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Finding Internet Resources

A word about Google and Wikipedia.

Google and Wikipedia are 2 tools that are available to help you find information on the Internet. Google is an Internet search engine. It will find websites for you on the subject of American Presidents. Wikipedia is a collaborative encyclopedia.It contains lots of information about American Presidents. But you need to be careful when using these 2 tools. Google will just find sites for you. It will not tell you whether or not those sites are accurate, or unbiased, or current. Wikipedia can be useful to help you get started finding information. But because anybody can edit a Wikipedia page, you have to take information you find there with a grain of salt. Wikipedia is a fine source for some information--but always backup information you find there with another source.

Some Useful Websites:

Death Penalty Information Center

ACLU: "Racial Profiling Old & New"

Understanding Prejudice Try looking for affirmative action issues here

Same-Sex Marriage: A Selective Bibliography of the Legal Literature Rutgers University Law School resources page--has many links to other websites of interest to the topic

Hate Crimes Laws this page from the Anti-Defamation league has lots of good information

Southern Povery Law Center website of established civil rights organization. Lots of good information on issues around justice and equality. Also check out Tolerance.org , aproject of the SPLC.

Social Issues and Social Welfare Internet Public Library--links to many useful websites.

 

Using and Evaluating Information Sources

• The Spider's Apprentice: How to Use Web Search Engines
• The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly: or, Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Resources
• Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages
• Is It a Popular Magazine or a Scholarly Journal?
• Evaluating Web Sites
  

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Writing and Citing Resources

For help with writing, try the Elmhurst College Writing Center online help page.

You can also try these online resources
College Writing and Citing
Citing Electronic Resources
ONLINE! Citation Styles
Citing Sources from the Duke University Libraries

If you need any help, you can also contact the Reference Desk any time the library is open:

Reference: 630-617-3173
Email: ref[at[elmhurst[dot]edu
AIM: elmhrstcollibref   |   Yahoo!Messenger: eclibraryreference   |   MSN Messenger: ref[at]elmhurst.edu

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Web Pages for Courses: Communications

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