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- Articles/Databases
WRT 120/130: Articles/Databases
Find articles, books, and more!
This is a great place to start when you do not know where to begin. You can search both our library catalog and many of our databases all at once!
Starting points for finding articles in library databases
- Academic Search UltimateAn excellent source to use if you don't know where to begin your search. Allows you to limit your search to scholarly/peer reviewed publications.
- JSTORJSTOR has the core journals in most academic disciplines. It has retrospective coverage: everything from the first issue published up to 3-5 years ago.
- Ethnic NewsWatchA collection of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press in America. Searchable in both English and Spanish, with titles in both languages.
- Project MuseComprehensive database of prestigious humanities and social science journals.
Starting points for current issues
- CQ ResearcherProvides in-depth coverage and analysis of current issues.
- Opposing Viewpoints in ContextProvides authoritative and credible facts and insights via articles, research reports, videos, and statistics on the most-debated political and social issues.
- U.S. GAO topic reportsThe Government Accountability Office provides objective, non-partisan reports to help improve the performance of government and ensure transparency.
- ProCon.org : Pros and Cons of Controversial IssuesPromoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, primarily pro-con format.
Topic Finder
The Topic Finder tool is a great way to consider potential topics for your papers, or to focus a general idea to a more specific one.
Library Basics
- Focusing a Topic3 minute 11 second video from the GVSU Libraries takes you through the process of refining your topic so that you can begin to define a research question or statement and search for relevant information.
- Building A Search Strategy2 1/2 minute video from the GVSU Libraries demonstrates the basic ways to find information.
- Evaluating Sources2 minute 47 second video from the GVSU Libraries gives the basics on thinking critically about your information.
Finding Articles
Databases allow you to search for articles about your topic. They show you information about an article: the title, author, and name of the journal or magazine the article appeared in. This is called the citation. Some databases also contain an abstract, or summary, of the article.
Many databases also include the articles themselves (called the full text of the article). When that happens, you should see a link to an HTML or PDF document. If you do not see that link, you should see another option for finding the full text, for example: "Get it @ GVSU", "Get full text", "Check for full text", "Request from Document Delivery". Click on the link and follow the prompts. In some cases, you may need to click on the article title to see the PDF link or other options.
If you run into any issues or land on a screen that indicates you have to pay for the article, ask us for help!
- Chat (Click on the "Ask A Question" button for chat, text, and phone options)
- Librarians
Some databases also have information about other types of resources: sometimes they have information about books, book chapters, government documents, and other things.
- Last Updated: Dec 4, 2024 3:29 PM
- URL: https://libguides.gvsu.edu/WRT130
