Current Issues

Overview

Anne-Marie.Deitering@oregonstate.edu (Anne-Marie Deitering) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:39:34 -0700

Look for books to provide background. Sometimes it helps to think of the broader issue that underlies the current "hot topic". For example, if you're interested in sharing music files on the web, the underlying issues have to do with copyright and intellectual property rights.

Look for articles in journals for scholarly information. As with books, you may need to put the current issue in a broader context to find relevant information.

Look for articles in magazines and newspapers for current views.

Getting started - online sources

Anne-Marie.Deitering@oregonstate.edu (Anne-Marie Deitering) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:44:29 -0700

http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/
Reports on a large number of current topics have been collected on this page at the University of North Texas.

Social Issues: http://www.multcolib.org/homework/sochc.html

Created by the Multnomah County Library, you'll find links to web sites presenting differing views on a broad range of contemporary social issues

Ready Reference Opposing Viewpoints: http://www.lib.lsu.edu/ref/viewpoints.html
From the library at Louisiana State University comes this excellent set of links to resources or information that provides position descriptions on current issues. Everything from the Congressional Quarterly to individual advocacy organizations are represented here.

Sources in Print

Anne-Marie.Deitering@oregonstate.edu (Anne-Marie Deitering) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:58:48 -0800

Some useful sources for statistics and other information on current events. These can all be found in the Valley Library.

News databases

Anne-Marie.Deitering@oregonstate.edu (Anne-Marie Deitering) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:41:45 -0800

OSU libraries subscribe to several article databases. Take advantage of these to get quick access to the full-text of news articles that might be available for a fee elsewhere on the web.

Some databases make it easy to save lists of articles, some will format your citations for you, and some will recommend more sources to you when you find one you like.

Note - if you are a member of the OSU community you can access these databases from any computer with an Internet connection. Logon at the prompt with your ONID information.

Lexis-Nexis Academic

Lexis-Nexis provides full-text access to local, regional, national and international news sources. Everything in the database is full-text, and it is updated daily.

Use the Lexis-Nexis wiki to find tips and tutorials on searching created by users and experts.

Newspaper Source

Newspaper source searches 143 newspapers and provides full-text access to many articles. It is updated daily. EBSCO's citation-formatting tool, folders, and other features make managing your research easier.

NewspaperDirect PressDisplay

This gives full-text access to the last two months of many national and international papers - in full-color, full-page format.

Online News

Anne-Marie.Deitering@oregonstate.edu (Anne-Marie Deitering) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:38:58 -0800

Anyone can use a search engine to find a newspaper's web site, or a site like Google News to search a lot of sources at once. But there are a LOT of fantastic tools and services available that make browsing current news fun and interesting. Choose one that matches your learning style:

Newsmap

Newsmap lets you visualize the most current information from Google News in a format called a treemap. Newsmap doesn't let you search for information - it is a browsing tool. According to the site, this tool divides "information into quickly recognizable bands which, when presented together, reveal underlying patterns in news reporting across cultures and within news segments in constant change around the globe."

Muckety

With the tagline "exploring the paths of power and influence," Muckety makes its agenda clear. This tool provides visualizations of the networks different news figures or organizations belong to. Search for a figure in the news, and you'll get a web-like diagram of other people and organizations that person is connected to.

Silobreaker

This tagline is even bigger than Muckety's - "welcome to unparalleled insight into news and current events." This site provides a number of different ways to search the news, and also provides charts and other visual tools to illustrate the news trends - what people are talking about and where.

Preview some online news tools

Anne-Marie.Deitering@oregonstate.edu (Anne-Marie Deitering) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:45:10 -0800