ENG 085 Guide
This guide will help you research and complete your argumentative essay assignment. This page features library databases and other resources to help you uncover needed information. Navigate to the other pages in this guide (located in the blue menu on the left side) to find citation information as well as ways to receive more help from librarians and the Writing Center.
Best Resources for this Course
Find Background, Articles, & Statistics
Below are some great resources to use when you need to research a topic.
- Try the links below to find a wide variety of information
- Check out Statista to add specific data to strengthen your argument
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new windowProvides original, comprehensive reporting and analysis on current events, including summaries and bibliographies. Controversial topics are addressed in a balanced, unbiased manner in the Congressional Quarterly tradition.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text reference books in 20 subject areas. It includes over 180 titles and 65,000 images "powered by a network of cross-references that cut across topics, titles and publishers to provide answers - and new connections - in context." coverage: Varies
- EBSCOhost (includes several component databases) This link opens in a new windowProvides online access to an extensive collection of databases, including Academic Search Premier, Business Source Complete, Newspaper Source, Alt HealthWatch, Health Source, and more.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowProvides access to scholarly literature "across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles." Note that many articles contain only the citation without full text; if full text is not available, you can request articles via Interlibrary Loan.
- Statista This link opens in a new window
One of the world's largest statistics portals with data from over 18,000 sources. Provides access to 1 million statistics. Also contains information on industries, countries, digital markets, and other topics, as well as infographics.
News & Magazine Articles
Use these resources to find credible, popular articles. Both the NYT and Flipster are available as apps.
- Financial Times (via ABI/INFORM) This link opens in a new window
The Financial Times is read daily by businesses, politicians, and academics around the world. The FT covers a variety of topics, including management, business, the legal industry, politics, climate change, and economics, all from a global perspective.
While we no longer have a direct subscription to ft.com, we have access to content published from 05/31/1996 to present (with a 30 Day delay) through ABI/Inform. - New York Times (NYTimes.com) This link opens in a new windowActivate your subscription from one of the links below and make sure you use the off campus activation link if you are off campus and the on campus activation link if you are on campus. After creating your account, you can log on to the New York Times site directly using your Menlo e-mail and the password you have set up. iPhone, iPad, and Android apps are available with your login. The Menlo Community has full-text access to the New York Times from 1851 to the present. For the years 1923-1980 there is a limit of 5 articles per day per user.
- New York Times One-Time Activation from On Campus This link opens in a new windowActivate your subscription when you on campus using this link.
- Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition) This link opens in a new windowAccess the Eastern Edition of the Wall Street Journal through ABI/Inform. Use the search option to search for articles or browse by issue. Coverage from 1984-present.
- FactCheck.org
A project developed by the Annenberg Public Policy Center.
- Pew Research Center
An important independent organization that "provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world," through opinion polling and social science research. Very useful for media-related speeches.
- ProCon.org
Contains information on both sides of popular debate topics.
- TED Talks
A great spot to find a wide range of talks. Use the filters, to narrow by topic, duration, speaker, or subject. The "sort by" dropdown allows you to narrow by type of talk. Take a listen!
SITE Searching in Google
Another place to search for information is simply to 'Google it.' How can we be sure the results are useful?
Whenever finding information online, remember to think about the following -
- Who is the author or sponsor of the article?
- What is the purpose of the information being published?
- Is there an obvious bias or a viewpoint being put forth?
- How authoritative is this source?
Using Google's site search requires you to use a specific phrase before adding search terms or keywords by telling Google you only want results from a specific website or domain. The search always begins with site + colon + URL or Domain all without any spaces; next, add a space and insert your search terms.
See the examples below -
- site:nytimes.com gun violence teens This search phrase tells Google that you'd like results from the New York Times website that mentions gun violence and teens. **Using a site search is one of the best ways to search for articles on a given topic in the New York Times** You can use the Tools link to limit the date range. Here the search results have been limited to 2019-2022.
- site:gov crime rates AND 'socioeconomic status' This search phrase tells Google you'd like to see articles, reports, etc., from government websites concerned with crime rates and socioeconomic status. Because we want Google to search socioeconomic status as a phrase, it's important to put these two words in quotes. [This search is also limited to the period 2019-2022]
- site:edu race AND 'socioeconomic status' This search phrase tells Google to retrieve articles published by or in educational institutions having to do with any connection between race and socioeconomic status.
