CSA Discovery Guides
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/discoveryguides-main.php
CSA is an information company that publishes many resources to aid people doing research. Its website includes background articles on “hot topics” in the arts and humanities, the social sciences, the natural sciences, and technology. Each lengthy article is signed by a qualified researcher and includes an extensive list of sources. This site is another great source for topic ideas.

Facts on File World News Digest
REF D410 .F31
Issued weekly, Facts on File provides a digest of news and current information that has been culled from newspapers and magazines. The emphasis is on factual content, not analysis. This might be a good source to browse if you are looking for a topic.

General encyclopedias, located in the reference collection in the AE section. Many articles will include a bibliography, which is a list of resources to go to for more information. The one-volume Columbia Encyclopedia, on the reference counter next to the dictionary, offers excellent concise overviews on many topics.

Encyclopedia Britannica Online. You can get to EB Online in the “General Reference” section on the library’s website.

We own many specialized encyclopedias in the reference collection that focus on one subject, such as the environment. To find these, search in ALiCat, combining the keyword “encyclopedia” with a keyword that broadly includes your topic, such as “environment.” Combine these keywords with an “and” in the middle and search by a Boolean search.

2. Find books on your topic for a broader perspective.

You may want to look for books on your topic that will give you an historical perspective or that include a discussion of the topic. To find books in our library, use ALiCat. Use keywords to find a book by topic. Once you find a book you like, click on the subject headings in the record for that book to find more books on the same or related subjects. If you already know a specific author or title, you can search by either in ALiCat.

Search in ALiCat by the phrase “taking sides” or “opposing viewpoints” (enclose phrase in quotation marks and search by “any word anywhere”) to locate two series of books that both provide differing viewpoints on controversial issues.

If we don't have the book you need, repeat the search in I-Share, the catalog of all the academic libraries in Illinois. You can request books from the I-Share website and they will be sent to Augustana for you.

3. Find articles in magazines and journals for detailed, current information.

Use the online databases on the library’s web site to look up your topic. Go to the “search by subject” section to find databases appropriate to your topic.

If the full text of your article is not provided, don’t give up. Copy and paste the title of the magazine/journal (not the title of the article) in the search box on the "Augustana's Periodicals” page to see if we have the full text of the article in another database or in hard copy.

If you find an article we don’t have, you can request it through interlibrary loan (ILL). Look for a link to ILL from the page where you found the article or click on “interlibrary loan” on the library homepage.

A good, interdisciplinary index to start with is Academic Search Elite. Explore the library website for other databases. If you are looking for articles on the effects of smoking, for example, look in the science section.

Another interesting and eclectic index with good current information is PAIS International. PAIS will direct you to not only articles, but reports, government documents, websites, books, statistical directories, and more.

4. Look for newspaper articles for reports on the news as it was happening:

LexisNexis is a full text database for newspapers and non-scholarly magazines from around the world.

Newspaper Source indexes 143 U.S. and international newspapers with links to selected full text.

Wall Street Journal Online is a full text database.

Editorials on File
REF D839 .E3
Contains editorials from newspapers across the country. In the index of each year’s volume, you can look by topic to find a group of editorials on one subject. You can also look under the name of a newspaper and find all the editorials, on different topics, from that paper--useful if you want to trace the newspaper’s slant on one or many topics. Another good resource to help you find a topic, too.

Thomas Tredway Library Augustana College 639 38th Street, Rock Island, IL 61201
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