Library Guides: Think Tank at Berks: Getting Started

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Welcome to the Berks Think Tank Research Guide!

This guide is intended to provide research guidance to Penn State Berks' Think Tank student group.

Finding Sources on Globalization

Background Information

Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
Covers a variety of controversial topics pertaining to globalization while presenting multiple viewpoints; access to a wide range of sources from scholarly research to podcasts to statistics.
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.
Global Issues This link opens in a new window
Similar to Opposing Viewpoints but provides access to sources with even more of an international perspective.
Offers current, international news and perspectives on a variety of topics and events throughout the world. It brings together an array of sources to explain the historical and contemporary conditions in a wide range of subject areas, including sociology, civics, politics, science, economics, cultural/religious studies, women's studies, and human rights. Updated daily.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Find reports on a number of political & social issues pertaining to globalization.
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.
Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) This link opens in a new window
Excellent place to search for background information to establish facts on your topic or issue.
A collection of over 1000 reference resources.

Business & Economic Information

Business Source Premier This link opens in a new window
Business news, scholarly journals, corporate and market profiles, SWOT
An essential article database for business research providing the full text for more than 2,000 periodicals, including about 1,000 scholarly journals. Covers virtually all disciplines in business and economics, including: accounting, economics, econometrics, finance, marketing, management, MIS, QMM and supply chain management.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Find a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information.
Provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information. Covers many news sources for 20 years. Court cases and statutes from all federal and state jurisdictions are included. Most resources can be searched in full text.

Public Opinion Research

Pew Research Center
Non-partisan research center that tracks both domestic and international public opinion
Gallup
A veteran polling institution that has been tracking elections for more than 60 years.

Roper iPoll This link opens in a new window
Library database containing comprehensive coverage of U.S. public opinion data.
A comprehensive source for US nationwide public opinion data from academic, commercial and media survey organizations such as ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, The Gallup Organization, Los Angeles Times, National Opinion Research Center, NBC News, New York Times, Princeton Survey Research Associates, the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, USA Today and The Washington Post. iPOLL is organized at the question-level, providing the tools to sift through 350,000 questions asked on national public opinion surveys since 1935. Penn State users may need to register using their PSU email to create a user account and password to download data. To create an account select the login tab. When you log in make sure you select Pennsylvania State University as your affiliation.