Introduction
Rising Cost of Education, the Opioid Crisis, Immigration, Racism, Terrorism, Healthcare Accessibility, International Politics, Trade Agreements; these are all examples of issues and controversies discussed in the news on a daily basis and studied by students in their various courses. This Library Guide is designed to provide a starting point for those seeking background information and a context for issues of interest, and it offers some guidance on resources that can be helpful in finding and providing information in a variety of formats.
A Starting Point
The following databases will provide background information as well as opposing viewpoints on given issues. IT is a great place to find a topic of interest or once you have selected your topic, these resources will provide you with a comprehensive overview and additional recommended reading.
Credo Reference
Credo Reference provides a complete reference collection from over 50 publishers, powered by a network of cross-references that cut across topics, titles and publishers to provide answers - and new connections - in context. It includes encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies, quotation books, bilingual dictionaries, measurement conversions, and more.CQ Researcher
A database of in-depth, authoritative reports on a full range of political and social-policy issues extending back to 1923. Each report is footnoted and includes an overview, background section, chronology, bibliography and debate-style pro-con feature, plus tools to study the evolution of the topic over time.Opposing Viewpoints
This link opens in a new window This opens a pop-up window to share the URL for this database. Cross-curricular research tool providing pro/con perspectives on current social issues.Points of View Reference Center
Each topic features a Guide to Critical Analysis which helps the reader evaluate the controversy and enhances students’ ability to read critically, develop their own perspective on the issues, and write or debate an effective argument on the topic.
Databases A-Z
Databases, often with access to full text
Note that the following resources are a selection of the more than 400 available on the Library's Website. We recommend that you review the list and check out other Library Guides that provide information or suggested links you might find useful.
Academic Search Complete
This multi-disciplinary database provides full text for more than 6,600 journals.International Newsstream
ProQuest International Newsstream provides information from more than 660 of the world's top newspapers, including The Times (London), The Bangkok Post, El Norte, Financial Times, The Guardian, Jerusalem Post, South China Morning Post, The Daily Telegraph, Asian Wall Street Journal, and the BBC Monitoring series of publications.JSTOR
Coverage includes the full text from volume 1, number 1 through the current date in some cases or, more often, up to a period of embargo from six months to five years depending on the arrangements with the title's vendor.NewsBank Access World News
NewsBank provides full-text information and perspectives from U.S. and international sources, including The Washington Post, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today, London Times, The Economist China Daily (Beijing).NewsBank Special Reports
Get a global perspective, current and background information, and supporting data. New information is added daily. Mouse over any Featured Report; a review appears on the page. Scroll down for Current Reports and Archived Reports.PolicyMap
With easy-to-use menus, PolicyMap is a “GIS tool for non-GIS experts” for those who need to visualize large amounts of data quickly and easily, often down to the census tract or block group level. It is used in the social sciences, urban studies and regional planning, real estate and housing analysis, community and economic development, public administration and policy, public health, political science, education, environmental studies, business and finance, economics, statistics and geography, among other areas. Included in the tool is access to PolicyMap’s extensive data collection, with 15,000+ indicators used to understand communities, organized into general categories including demographics, income and spending, housing, lending activity, quality of life, economy, education, health, federal guidelines, and other analysis. In addition, students and faculty can easily upload and incorporate their data into and leverage it against the thousands of indicators already available in PolicyMap.Political Handbook of the World
From CQ Press, Political Handbook of the World is organized for browsing or searching country and intergovernmental organization profiles. Updates of major political events since the last edition are included in notes. Users can quickly access content from the Handbook by navigating a virtual table of contents, performing a keyword search, or browsing for country profiles by Regime type, party system, electoral system, government system, or region.ProQuest Central
ProQuest Central is the largest, multidisciplinary, full-text database available in the market today. This resource provides access to 27 of ProQuest's most highly used databases, with a variety of content types across over 160 subjects, making this the broadest single research resource in the world.Research Library
Provides one-stop access to a wide range of popular academic subjects. The database includes more than 5,000 titles - over 3,500 in full text - from 1971 forward. It features a highly-respected, diversified mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers, covering the top 150 core academic subject reference areas.Sixty Minutes: 1997-2014
Program segments cover history, business, law, politics, and more.Sustainability
Academic and policy research on environmental stresses and their impact on society.Web News
EBSCO's Web News provides near real-time access to thousands of top news feeds from around the globe. This collection includes over 14,000 feeds covering a range of business and general news topics.Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (1975-current)
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy. Coverage from 1975 – current. Approximately 22,000 items are added per year. Click the Get-It button to link to full text, when available.
Find Books
Search Tools for Books
Library Search at Rowan University Libraries
Includes all of the Libraries physical collections and most digital resources. To find books use Rowan's Library Search and limit the material type to Books. You can do this either from the Advanced Search page (use the Material Type drop-down menu on the right) or from a search results page (use the Resource Type limiter).E-Book Central
A subscription based service, E-Books Central combines several databases under a new name. Trusted E-Books from Scholarly Sources. Alternative Name(s) & Keywords: Ebrary Academic Complete.Worldcat.org
The World's biggest Library catalog. See everything- mostly secondary materials on your subject.Open Library
Access the combined titles from Internet Archive and Open Library, more than a million free titles. Also set up an account and sign in with your NJ Library card for borrowing privileges to 200,000 modern titles.
Websites
Annenberg Classroom: Resources for excellent Civics Education
From the Lenore Annenberg Institute for Civics.Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania has been the premier communication policy center in the country since its founding in 1993. By conducting and releasing research, staging conferences and hosting policy discussions, its scholars have addressed the role of communication in politics, adolescent behavior, child development, health care, civics and mental health, among other important arenas. The Center’s researchers have drafted materials that helped policy makers, journalists, scholars, constituent groups and the general public better understand the role that media play in their lives and the life of the nation. (source:website)Brookings.edu
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Our mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national and global level.Debate.org
Debate.org is an interesting and unique site to debate online and read the opinions of others. To encourage discussion we have built our website around these core features: Debates, Opinions, Forums, and Community (source: website).FactCheck.org
A nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics by monitoring the factual accuracy of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Best practices of journalism and scholarship are applied to increase public knowledge and understanding (source:website).FlackCheck.org
A project of the Annenberg Public Policy CenterGallup Trends A-Z
n addition to daily tracking and topical Gallup polls, Gallup conducts in-depth surveys on the following topics during the same month every year (source: website).ProCon.org
"The Leading Source for Pros & Cons of Controversial Issues" PRoCon.org promotes critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues is a straightforward, nonpartisan and primarily pro-con format (source:website).Public Agenda
By elevating a diversity of voices, forging common ground and improving dialogue and collaboration among leaders and communities, Public Agenda fuels progress on critical issues, including education, health care and community engagement (source:website).
Other Library Guides
Other Guides
Listed here is a selection of other Library and Research Guides that might contain information relevant to your subject. Be sure to look at the complete list as your subject area might be listed. All Guides
Guide Info
Guide Information and Terms of Use
This Library Research Guide is posted on the Rowan University Libraries' Research Guides site to provide a starting point for those seeking background information and supporting materials related to controversial issues and pro-con positions. The guide links to both subscription based resources with restricted access, and to freely accessible sites.
Rowan University Libraries' Research Guides are provided for educational and research purposes. Guides are hosted on the Springshare LibGuides portal, to which Rowan University Libraries subscribes. Please send comments, suggestions, corrections to Bruce Whitham via email.
Rowan University makes no claim to freely available websites nor does it accept responsibility for the information, views, or opinions expressed by those who have authored or compiled the content or by those who are quoted on the sites. The inclusion of links to any of the websites on this or any other Library Research Guide should not be considered an endorsement of any product or service offered on the linked sites or by the website service providers.
The use of this guide infers acceptance of the Terms of Use, spelled out on the Rowan University Libraries site. If you do not agree to abide by these terms you are required to leave the site.
