Library Guides: ENGL 015: Rhetoric and Composition (Ringle): Finding Information

Get Background Information

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
CQ Researcher is often the first source that librarians recommend when researchers are seeking original, comprehensive reporting and analysis on issues in the news. Founded in 1923 as Editorial Research Reports, CQ Researcher is noted for its award-winning in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the 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
Opposing Viewpoints is the premier online resource covering today’s hottest social issues, from capital punishment to immigration to marijuana. With over 20,000 pro/con viewpoints, approximately 19,000 reference articles, interactive maps, infographics, and more, students will be prepared to argue any side of the issue.
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.
Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) This link opens in a new window
Gale eBooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library) is an online library of reference titles for multi-disciplinary research, including texts related to American and world history, biography, health, arts, business, travel, religion, and multicultural studies.
A collection of over 2000 reference resources.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Oxford Reference is the premier online reference product, spanning 25 different subject areas, bringing together 2 million digitized entries across Oxford University Press’s Dictionaries, Companions and Encyclopedias.
Oxford Reference Online consists of a wealth of facts, figures, definitions, and translations found in dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.

Find Articles

Academic Search Complete (Ebsco) This link opens in a new window
A scholarly, multi-disciplinary database providing indexing and abstracts for thousands of journals and other publications. Academic Search Complete includes full-text access to peer-reviewed journals, as well as indexing and abstracts for magazines, monographs, reports, and conference proceedings. The database features some PDF content going back as far as 1867, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for 1,000 journals.
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.
ProQuest (Multiple Databases) This link opens in a new window
Searches multiple ProQuest products, indexing 5,000+ magazines, journals, and newspapers. It contains Full text (word file with no photos or tables) or images (looks like real paper publication) to over 2,000 journals, and Full text to 150+ newspapers.
Searches multiple ProQuest products, indexing 5,000+ magazines, journals, and newspapers. Keywords: news, New York Times, current events, contemporary issues, hot topics, English 15, CAS 100.

FIND Box

The FIND Box on the University Libraries home page 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. The FIND search includes records from The CAT, electronic resources, and local Penn State collections. A small number of Libraries’ resources are not indexed in this search.