Library Guides: CAS 100A: Effective Speech: Finding Information

Starting with Databases

The University Libraries subscribes to the following general resources which are all available from the “Try These First” link under Research on the Libraries’ home page. These are excellent resources for starting your research, especially if you have a broad topic.

Academic Search Complete (Ebsco) This link opens in a new window
One of the largest databases at Penn State, a comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,300 full-text periodicals.
Academic Search Complete is a comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,300 full-text periodicals, including 4,400 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 9,300 journals and a total of 10,900 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1865, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
A collection of reports covering political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy.
The CQ Researcher is a collection of reports covering political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy. Keywords: hot topics, current events, social issues, social trends, archive, English 15, CAS 100, background information, general interest, contemporary issues, overviews. CQ Global Researcher (formerly a stand alone DB) content was merged into CQ Researcher.
Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
Covers hot topics, current events, social issues, and social trends, and great for getting background information, general interest papers, contemporary issues, and topic overviews.
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center provides research and background information on social issues. The database contains the essays from the Opposing Viewpoints series, supplemented by statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles. Keywords: hot topics, current events, social issues, social trends, English 15, CAS 100, background information, general interest, contemporary issues, overviews.

LionSearch

LionSearch is a “one stop” search tool that can be used to search for articles, books, and other resources from the collections of the Penn State University Libraries and electronic full-text databases. LionSearch includes records from The CAT, electronic resources, and local Penn State collections. A small number of Libraries’ resources are not indexed by LionSearch.

To use LionSearch, locate the “FIND” section of the University Libraries’ home page, click on the "Books, Articles, and More" tab, type in some key words in the search box, and click the search button.