Library Guides: English 1 Current Issues

Instructor: S. Bhatt
Librarian: G. Haycock
August 29, 2007

REFERENCE BOOKS:
Located on the first floor of the library behind the Reference Desk.  These books must remain in the library. Reference books include dictionaries, almanacs and encyclopedias. Specialized or subject encyclopedias (concentrating on a particular subject instead of covering all knowledge) are excellent starting points for research. They are focused on a particular topic, cover the major concepts of the topic, are written by experts in the field, and often have bibliographies or other references.

 Examples of Reference books in the COS library are as follows:

Statistics:
Statistical Abstract of the United States    #R317.3 Un58    This resource is also available online at the following URL:    http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
The World Almanac and Book of Facts    #R317.3 W927

Subject Encyclopedias: (a small sampling of what is available)
Encyclopedia of Terrorism    #R303.625 K97
Encyclopedia of the American Armed Forces    #R355.00973 A969
Global Warming in the 21st Century    #R363.73874 J65
Eating Disorders and Obesity    #R616.8526 E14

Online Reference Books:
Gale Virtual Reference Library - Gale provides access to 200 reference books. All the books are full-text and cover a wide variety of topics including art, science, literature and much more. All 200 titles can be searched simultaneously or individual titles may be selected. (Cost $20,000)

CIRCULATING BOOKS: Located on the second floor of the library. Our newest books are, for the most part, in the areas of science and social issues, and current topics, because we try to build the collection to the type of assignments given to students.  The COS Library online catalog is linked to the COS Library home page.  Opposing viewpoints is a series of books on controversial issues that is helpful in narrowing a topic. In the COS catalog the following search will retrieve the available titles in this series:

ONLINE BOOKS:

PERIODICALS INDEXES AND DATABASES: Located on the first floor of the library. Periodicals refer to information printed over a period of time such as magazines, journals and newspapers. These are excellent sources for current and authoritative information. To find an article on a specific topic, it is necessary to use an index.  Indexes are available in paper and electronic formats. The library subscribes to approximately 23 indexes,  300 periodicals and 13 newspapers.  For a list of which periodicals and indexes are available at COS click on the link: http://www.cos.edu/library/periodicalsalpha.htm .  For periodicals that the COS Library does not have available, there is also the possibility of an Inter-Library Loan from Fresno State University.

ALSO, through the Electronic Resources link, http://cos.edu/library/electronic.htm, on the COS Library’s Web Site, there are links to the electronic index subscription databases that the library makes available to COS students. Many of these indexes offer full-text articles, which means the entire article will be available even if the library doesn't subscribe to the periodical itself. If a student is off campus, passwords are necessary to access these databases. Passwords are available for COS students at the COS Library Information Desk or by calling the Library at (559) 737-6179.

Here are some general guidelines to think about before typing anything in the search boxes:

• Allow plenty of time for searching, depending on your topic getting good results may take longer than you think.

• Allow time to read the article before emailing or printing, especially, when doing a key word search, because you may get false hits.

• Choose the most appropriate database for your topic.

• Take time to look at the search screen as a whole and make choices appropriate to your topic or assignment.

• Focus on getting precisely what you are looking for, not how many results you get.

• Use Boolean operators: and, or, not, whenever appropriate or allowed by the software. This option is often available in advanced search.

• Identify key words and possible subject headings and synonyms.

• Remember: Subject headings are words used to describe an article. Key words are words actually found in the article. For Example:

DATABASES FOR CONTEMPORARY ISSUES:    (These two databases are full-text)

• CQ Researcher - Your complete source on the most current and controversial issues of the day with complete summaries, all the pros and cons, bibliographies and more. (Annual Cost $523)
• SIRS (Social Issues Research Series) - SIRS contains all full-text articles from a variety of newspaper and magazines covering current social issues.  (Annual Cost $1440)

• Student Research Center - This site provides access to the Columbia Encyclopedia as well as government reports, magazines, news transcripts, Primary Source Documents and more.

• CNN    http://www.cnn.com/
• National Public Radio    http://www.npr.org/
• Justice Talking    http://www.justicetalking.org/
• COS Library Web Sites By Topic: Hot Topics    http://www.cos.edu/library/subject/hottopics.htm
• Yahoo Issues and Causes    http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Issues_and_Causes/
• Librarian's Index to the Internet: Society and Social Science    http://search.lii.org/index.jsp?more=SubTopic14
• Education Debate Association    http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/
• Best Information on the Net    http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/Hot/hotindex.htm
• Public Agenda    http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/issuehome.cfm

This page was created: August 2007   This page was last updated: 08/23/2007
For Questions and Comments, please mail to ginah@cos.edu