Controversial Issues

This and other research guides are on the ACC Library web page under
Research Guides & Tutorials: http://library.sunyacc.edu

Adirondack Community College, 640 Bay Road, Queensbury, NY 12804
(518) 743-2260

Books | Reference books | Articles | Web sites

At any point in your research, please consult a reference librarian. Librarians are available whenever the library is open at (518) 743-2200 ext. 2462. Library hours are listed on the ACC Library's home page: http://library.sunyacc.edu.

Finding Books:

To find books or multimedia items, search the ACC book catalog (ACC Library web page > Finding Books > Catalog):

• Reference books, on the library’s main floor, don’t leave the library, so are always available.
• Circulating books, on the upper level of the library, may be checked out for four weeks.
• Videos, DVDs and music CDs may be borrowed by faculty. Students may use equipment near the video/DVD shelves.

Search tip: Start with a keyword search. When you find an interesting book, look for the subject headings in the book's online description. Click on any that refine your search best. We recommend visiting the ACC Library's Research Guides & Tutorials page, which offers a narrated tutorial on searching the online catalog and two tutorials called "Research Steps," offering important search strategies. Here are some subject headings to consider using:

To decide on a topic:

For a preliminary list of controversial issues, go to the Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. The path to the Center, which is on the ACC site, is Library > Finding Articles > General Databases > Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center.

For a list of some controversial issues, go to the Web site http://www.accd.edu/pac/lrc/issues.htm There you will find links to more material. The site is located at the Alamo Community College District.

These book series will be very useful to you - search for them by title in the online catalog:

CQ Researcher - This source takes two forms: print and electronic. Each weekly issue offers research on a current controversial issue. The print version is in the Reference Collection at Ref. H 35 .C672 (1993-present). The path for the electronic version is ACC Library > Finding Books > Reference > CQ Researcher.

Facts on File: World News Digest
Find this database under: ACC Library > Finding Books > Reference > Facts on File. Search by a subject, look at current news headlines, or browse under the "Need a Research Topic?" section on the lower right. (It also offers "More research topics" in that section.)

Tips for searching the ACC Library Catalog:

When you are looking for books in the ACC Library Catalog, you will find that just entering your specific controversial issue in the textbox and pressing Go will retrieve the titles of books that you may find relevant. You must explore the individual result screen and/or the indexes of the books to discover true relevance. If you do not have a specific controversial issue, simply enter controvers* in the textbox. Such a search will retrieve hundreds of titles about controversial subjects. Entering issues will retrieve the same kind of list.

To see the list of the titles in the Taking Sides or Opposing Viewpoints series, enter either title in the textbox - or both titles like this: taking sides or opposing viewpoints.

Reference Books:

Reference books, on the main floor, can help you select a research topic. They also offer quick background information and overviews on subjects.

Use reference books to provide context for your research and an overview of your topic. Look up your subject in the index in the last volume of a multivolume work to save time.

To find a list of reference books on your subject, choose Advanced Search in the Catalog, enter your subject in the textbox, move down the page to Limit by collection. Click on the menu arrow and highlight Reference. Finally, click Go.

Gale Virtual Reference Library:

You can search thousands of full-text chapters from more than 250 reference books published by Gale Cengage Learning. The ACC Library owns many of these books in printed format also. The Document Title search will search for your term in the chapter titles, giving you full-text chapters from the reference books. The content is the exactly the same as the original printed books. Thisis a subscription database, available from off-campus to ACC students, faculty and staff. Find this database with these links: ACC Library Web page > Finding Books > Reference > Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Facts on File: World News Digest
Find this database under: ACC Library > Finding Books > Reference > Facts on File. Search by a subject, look at current news headlines, or browse under the "Need a Research Topic?" section on the lower right. (It also offers "More research topics" in that section.) Other features include timelines, country profiles, issues in depth, information on elections, federal budgets, state laws, Dow Jones, world financial data, notable biographies, and more.

Finding Articles:

Journal articles offer current and specific information and research. Search for journal articles by subject through any of the ACC Library's dozens of article databases. Many but not all offer full-text links to articles. (If needed, ask a reference librarian about finding an article though another database, print sources or interlibrary loan if it's not full-text.).

Article databases are subscription-only products. ACC students and faculty may search these from home by following screen directions. To get your ACC student username and password, see Lookup Account and Password on the Student Portal page. For a full list of journals ACC Library receives, see the online Periodicals at ACC list or check the card file at the Circulation Desk.

From the ACC Library Web page, go to Finding Articles. Then, choose either:

• General Databases to find articles on a current, popular or multidisciplinary topic and need a mix of newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals; or
• Subject Databases to find specialized articles on one subject only, such as business, science, literature, nursing, etc.

Among the General Databases are:
● EBSCO's Academic Search Premier: Over 8000 journals; about half are full-text.
● JSTOR: full-text; 117 journals covering the arts, sciences and social sciences.
● New York Times: Current (1980-present) and historical editions (1851-2003).
● WilsonSelectPlus: Completely full-text; 1+ million articles from 1400 journals.
● New York State Newspapers: includes New York Times full-text.
● Opposing Viewpoints, CQ Researcher, more.

Articles can be found in print, electronic and micro forms. Broad searches are not efficient for searching millions of articles, so use specific vocabulary.

A print index for finding articles over 20 years old is the New York Times, a generally quotable newspaper: New York Times IndexRef. AI21 .N44 (1851-2000).

Web sites:

Here are some recommended Web sites. Of the billions of Web sites in the world, these are more appropriate for college-level research.

Some general Web sites for researching controversial topics or for help deciding on a topic:

For more information:

Consult a reference librarian at any point in your research. You may also want to see other online ACC Library research guides.

Updated Aug. 2008/BDA/JM