COM 4930 Practicum in Debate
Maris L. Hayashi, Reference Librarian
http://www.fau.edu/library/

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR OFF-CAMPUS USERS:

*If you are off-campus, you must use EZproxy to access databases and electronic journals *

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Searching Tips

Try these keywords and/or subjects when searching for books and articles: same-sex marriage; same-sex partnerships; gay marriage; USA PATRIOT Act; civil liberties; terrorism prevention; civil rights; capital punishment; death penalty; separation of church and state; religion and politics; evolution; creationism; United States population policy; population control; military planning--United States; Iraq War, 2003; United States--Military policy. Note: In the Catalog, use the bold type words above to do a "Subject" search. Use the words that are not in bold type above to do a "Keyword" search.

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Books

1. Use the Catalog to help you locate books on your topic.

Hint! - Try limiting your search to a specific date range such as: 2002-2004.
Another Hint! - When doing a Keyword search, use adj between two words for phrases, e.g. global adj warming finds the phrase "global warming" in the title, summary, and subject.
Yet Another Hint! - To truncate a word, use ?, e.g. legal? will look for legal, legalization, legalized, legalizing, etc.

2. Taking Sides book series - Reference books that provide pro and con essays/articles on social issues such as abortion, mass media, education, and more. To see a list of titles, do a Keyword search in the Catalog for taking sides and limit your location to BR Reference. These books cannot be checked out.

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* Remember this about Electronic Resources *
NOT EVERYTHING IS AVAILABLE ONLINE OR FULL-TEXT!

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Articles - Electronic and Print Resources

Access World News (Full Text)
Information from over 500 international sources. Provides a link to Access UN, the United Nations Documents index.

Alternative Press Index (1991-present)
Alternative Press Index Archive (1969-1990)
Provides citations to articles on cultural, political, economic, and social change. Some of the articles come from journals and magazines such as Mother Jones, The Nation, The Progressive, Z Magazine.

CIAO - Columbia International Affairs Online (Full Text)
Especially useful for locating resources on the military involvement in Iraq.

CQ Researcher (Full Text)
Provides analyses and full reports on current news issues such as Social Security, gay marriage, patriotism, and more.

FACTS.com (Full Text)
A database that provides access to "Issues & Controversies" and other quick facts and statistics. After opening the database, click on the "Issues and Controversies" tab located near the top right of the page.

Gallup Brain (Full Text)
Provides questions and answers/responses from The Gallup Poll since 1935. View questions related to the war on evolution, the Patriot Act, and much more, and see how people responded.

LexisNexis Academic (Full Text)
Provides access to magazine and newspaper articles, news wires, and transcripts from news programs such as ABC News and the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

For LexisNexis searches, click on the Guided News Search tab, then for...
•Magazine articles - Step 1 = General News > Step 2 = Magazines and Journals
•Newspaper articles - Step 1 = General News > Step 2 = Major Papers
•News wires - Step 1 = News Wires > Step 2 = All available wire reports
•Transcripts - Step 1 = News Transcripts > Step 2 = All Transcripts (or select a a specific source)

National Journal (Full Text)
Weekly publication on politics and government.

ProQuest Newspapers (Full Text)
Access major U.S. newspapers - Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor.

Databases by Subject
Want to see more databases? We have listings of databases in many other subject areas such as education, the humanities, the sciences, and business.

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Evaluating Information from the Web

Do you know which Web sites to use for your research? Use these guides when doing research on the World Wide Web:
Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask (from UC Berkeley)
Evaluating a Website (from American University)
Evaluating Websites (from the University of Maryland)
Library Databases vs. the World Wide Web (from the FAU Libraries)
Information Search Overview (from the FAU Libraries)

Tips
•Pay attention to the site's domain. Does it end it .edu, .gov, .mil, .com, .net, .org?
•Anyone can create a Web page. Should you trust the everything that you find on the Web?
•Make sure the page you use provides current information. Not all information found on a page that was created in 2000 is relevant to 2005.

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Citing References using APA or MLA format

Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism - from Duke University Libraries
Nuts and Bolts of College Writing - APA - Also covers the writing process: style, structure, and evidence.
Nuts and Bolts of College Writing - MLA
APA Electronic Style Formats or Electronic References from the APA
MLA Electronic Style Formats

Copies of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed., are available for library use only on the shelves adjacent to the Reference Desk. (Call number: BF76.7 .P83 2001, Ready-Reference)

A copy of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. is available near the Reference Desk (for library use only). (Call number: LB2369 .G53 2003)

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Can I get full-text articles from a particular magazine or journal?
To see if we have access to articles from a particular journal or magazine, visit the Electronic Collection page. In the search box provided, enter the name of the journal or magazine and click "search." The names and links of electronic journals and/or databases will be listed for those titles you can access electronically. Note: Do NOT search by topic.

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I need a book, but we don't have it in the library. What can I do?
You can request many items such as articles and books that we don't own through Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad). Visit their page for more information. IMPORTANT!: Because ILL requests take time to process, you should allow yourself enough time to submit a request. If your assignment is due tomorrow, you probably won't receive the article or book in time.

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Research Assistance

Reference email - Ask a Librarian! form.
Reference Desk hours - 561-297-3785
Reference Consultations - Meet with a librarian to receive individual help.