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English
101 Orientation - B.
Salazar
Nov. 8, 2006
Library web site -
the best place to start your
research!
How to find
sources of
controversial
topics
and choose one
that interests you:
.
Other strategies:
-
Go to the
Issues &
Controversies database from our homepage.
Click on "Need a Research Topic? Click Here" in the
upper right corner of the screen.
-
Go to the
SIRS
database from our homepage. Click on "Leading Issues" on
the
center of the screen. Each issue guide has a
Pro/Con tab at the top.
-
Go to the
Congressional Digest Online database from our
homepage. Click on "Pro
& Con Online" link on the left.
Topics are divided into civil rights & judiciary,
economic
& environmental policy, government & politics,
and foreign policy.
-
In addition, for analysis and commentary from a
specific point-of-view, look for publications from
think tanks.
How to arrive at a position on a
controversial issue:
-
Find works that offer both sides of an
issue
-
Opposing Viewpoints series
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The History of Issues series
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At Issue series
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Current Controversies
-
Rio Hondo Library list of
Controversial Topics
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Attempting to search a general database
such as ProQuest for your issue with terms such as
support, oppose, pro, con, etc. can be very ineffective.
Results are not usually what you had hoped for:
(this was a search for "parental notification" AND
support)
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...Mark
DiCamillo said the uptick in
support for Proposition 85, the
measure to require parental
notification for teen abortions,
though slight, could signify that it was headed
toward passage. A similar measure that failed
last year, Proposition 73, was down slightly in
a poll taken at the same point before last
year's election....--
[Clea Benson. Bee Capitol Bureau. The
Sacramento Bee. Sacramento,
Calif.:
Nov 2, 2006. pg. A.1] |
- Basic
sequence of steps for researching your topic: Example
here
- If the issue is completely new to you, start with an
overview in a subject encyclopedia.
- Find books or series that give both
sides to an issue.
- Follow up references in bibliographies.
- Do a search in ProQuest for one of the articles
cited in the bibliography and then click on "More
Like This".
- Use a subject guide or web directory to find
relevant, authoritative web sites on your topic or to
find sources of "hot topics".
- Check those web sites for links to "Publications",
"Reports", "Links" and the like.
- Look for scholarly articles (if appropriate) in
online databases to get
a substantive treatment or critical analysis on some
aspect of your topic.
- Look for magazine articles in online
databases to get a layperson's treatment of the topic
(tend to be more opinionated and less scholarly or
balanced).
- Look for newspaper editorials if you want opinion
pieces that dovetail with your own.
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