Penn State Harrisburg Social Sciences Librarians
Most majors, including BBH, Education, HDFS, Kinesiology, Nursing, Psychology, and Sociology:
Bernadette Lear
(BAL19@psu.edu or 717-948-6360)
Communications and CSD:
Heidi Abbey Moyer
(HNA2@psu.edu or 717-948-6056)
Criminal Justice, Health Policy and Administration, Political Science, and Public Policy:
Emily Reed
(emilyreed@psu.edu or 717-948-6373)
In Partnership With:
What's Important to You?
It's easy to get sidetracked by political ads, scandals, news stories, etc.
Take a few minutes to focus on the big picture.
Here are some topics that are often the concern of state or national governments. Which matter most to you?
- Agriculture/Food
- Children/Families
- Civil Rights/LGBT/Women's Rights
- Crime/Justice/Public Safety
- Defense/Military/National Security
- Drugs/Alcohol
- Economy/Employment
- Education
- Energy
- Environment
- Health
- International Relations
- Recreation/Tourism
- Social Services
- Transportation
Are there any other topics that matter to you?
When looking at party platforms and candidate information, try to keep the "big picture" in mind.
Learning More about the Issues
Penn State offers several databases that provide multifaceted perspectives on political and social topics:
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new windowThe 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.
- Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new windowOpposing 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.
- Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) This link opens in a new windowContains factual and historical information from encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and other reference sources.