LibGuides: HIST252: History: Getting Started with your research

Opposing Viewpoints (Pro/Con Resources)

Opposing Viewpoints (Gale in Context) This link opens in a new window
Contextual information and opinions on hundreds of today's hottest social issues. Drawing on the acclaimed Greenhaven Press series, the solution features continuously updated viewpoints, topic overviews, full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
"An interdisciplinary, full-text database including newspapers, journals, wire services, newsletters, company reports and SEC filings, case law, government documents, transcripts of broadcasts, and selected reference works."
You can also find Company Information here by expanding the box on the bottom right of the page "Get Company Info" and search for the company by name.

ProCon.org
ProCon.org, a nonprofit nonpartisan public charity, provides professionally-researched pro, con, and related information on more than 50 controversial issues from gun control and death penalty to illegal immigration and alternative energy.

Topic Books

Search for the keywords in Library Catalog > Advanced Search and narrow Item Type by Topic Books.

Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Social Issues, Expanded by Kurt Finsterbusch
Call Number: TOPIC HN 59.2 .T35 2014
ISBN: 9780078139475
Publication Date: 2013-06-27
Taking Sides volumes present current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Each issue is thoughtfully framed with Learning Outcomes, an Issue Summary, an Introduction, and an Exploring the Issue section featuring Critical Thinking and Reflection, Is There Common Ground?, and Additional Resources. Taking Sides readers also offer a Topic Guide and an annotated listing of Internet References for further consideration of the issues. An online Instructor’s Resource Guide with testing material is available for each volume. Using Taking Sides in the Classroom is also an excellent instructor resource. Visit www.mhhe.com/takingsides for more details.
Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Global Issues, Expanded by James Harf; Mark Lombardi
Call Number: TOPIC JZ 1318 .T3475 2013
ISBN: 9780078050442
Publication Date: 2012-12-04
Taking Sides volumes present current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Each issue is thoughtfully framed with Learning Outcomes, an Issue Summary, an Introduction, and an Exploring the Issue section featuring Critical Thinking and Reflection, Is There Common Ground?, and Additional Resources. Taking Sides readers also offer a Topic Guide and an annotated listing of Internet References for further consideration of the issues. An online Instructor's Resource Guide with testing material is available for each volume. Using Taking Sides in the Classroom is also an excellent instructor resource. Visit www.mhhe.com/takingsides for more details.
Has Technology Increased Learning? by Roman Espejo
Call Number: TOPIC LB 1028.3 .H375 2009
ISBN: 9780737741032
Publication Date: 2008-11-26
Human Trafficking by Christina Fisanick
Call Number: TOPIC HQ 281 .H864 2010
ISBN: 9780737741438
Publication Date: 2009-10-30

"Oldest and largest fact-checking site on the Internet, one widely regarded by journalists, folklorists, and laypersons alike as one of the world’s essential resources."

Politifact

"PolitiFact checks claims by elected officials, candidates, leaders of political parties and political activists. We examine officials at all levels of government, from county commissioners to U.S. senators, from city council members to the president."

FactCheck.org

"Monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases."

Locate fact-checking sites around the world

Duke Reporters' Lab - Sanford School of Public Policy

Getting Started with your Research

Getting Started contains steps and guides to help you start your research on any topic.

Follow the guides in this sequence:

Mapping your Ideas
Picking your Topic
Finding Keywords
Combining Keywords (Search Logic)
Information Sources
Is it a Reliable Source?

Courtesy of UCLA Libraries

This video is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States license.__Published August 2013

From NCSU Libraries Video Tutorials: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/

Courtesy of UCLA Libraries

Adapted from the materials created by The University of Auckland Library, NZ.

This video is covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike license.

This video is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States license.__Published August 2013

From NCSU Libraries Video Tutorials: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/

Why it is important to cite...

Avoid the serious charge of plagiarism.
By referring (or citing) the works and opinions of scholars and specialists you give credibility and authority to your own arguments.
By citing the most important scholars or specialists in a field, you can show that you have understood and researched your topic correctly.
Providing references allows your professors to find the sources you used to support your arguments.
By acknowledging and engaging with the works and opinions of others, you become part of the academic conversation.

Search for the descriptive definition of a term/concept

Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition, containing over 73,000 articles, is a comprehensive, convenient, and accurate resource from which one can begin his or her research. Several bonus features are included in this online reference tool: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus; thousands of photographs, illustrations, and sound files; complementary Web site hot links; hundreds of relevant videos; hot links from Encyclopaedia Britannica articles to related magazine and journal articles from EBSCO and ProQuest online databases; World Data containing information and customizable charts and tables about nations of the world; over 4,000 Notable Quotations from historical and contemporary important men and women; and Gateway to the Classics, 225 works by 140 significant writers of the Western world.