Exploring & Refining Topics - ENGL 111: English Composition - Kellerby

Getting a Sense of Context - Encyclopedias

A good starting place, encyclopedias can provide general background information and may suggest directions for research.

Welcome to the Library guide for this course

Finding Background Info - To Explore or Refine Topics

(Jason Goecke via Flickr with Creative Commons)

These resources provide helpful background and history, statistics, and current trends around controversial topics:

Opposing Viewpoints in Context This link opens in a new window
Subject: Social Sciences, History, Business, Health, Law, Politics.Analysis of current social issues from different points of view. Often includes overviews of the history and controversies around a topic.
Points of View Reference Center This link opens in a new window
Subject: History, Art, Literature Full-text essays, articles, and guides that present multiple sides of an issue.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Subjects: Social & Behavioral Sciences, Health Sciences, Political Sciences, Law Enforcement Index with full-text to in-depth studies on current or controversial issues from 1991-current. Note: only 5 users at any given time.
Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
Subjects: Teacher Education, Social Sciences, Business, Political Sciences, Biological Sciences, Health Sciences, Languages, Literature & Mass Communication, Computer Science, Mathematics & Statistics, Music, Art & Design,
Theatre Arts Searchable collection of streaming videos, educational films, and video segments in the humanities & social sciences, science and math, business and health and medicine.

Room for Debate
The Room for Debate opinion pages from the New York Times provide essays around controversial topics from a range of perspectives. Access is limited to 10 articles a month.

The Pew Research Center provides information and reports on "on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world." A great source of current statistics and analysis.

Government Statistics:

USA.gov - Data and Statistics
Gateway to U. S. government statistics covering business & economics, the environment, family, home & community, health & nutrition, jobs & education, public safety, science & technology, travel & recreation. Also includes data in map form.
CIA World Factbook
Provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. From the U. S. Central Intelligence Agency.

For national & international news:

U.S. Major Dailies (Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post)

For a local or regional news:

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (ask the Reference desk for full text beyond the free article limit)
Daily Sentinel Index 1900-2005
Denver Post