Library Guides: CAS 100A: Effective Speech: Home

Welcome to CAS 100A

Hi! Welcome to the CAS 100 LibGuide!

You will find information related to your course here, as well as information needed to be able to complete your projects for this course.

Databases and Websites

LionSearch This link opens in a new window
Broad variety of sources and topics, the main search box on the libraries homepage, acts as our "google" through the databases
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
CQ Researcher is a collection of reports covering political and social issues
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.

Census Data (was American FactFinder)
provides access to data about the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas. It contains data from a broad range of surveys and censuses from the United States.

More databases

The University Libraries subscribes to the following general resources which are all available from the “Try These First” link under the "Research" heading 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
Helps to narrow down some searching
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.
Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
For that "pro/con" debate
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.

Identifying & Brainstorming Keywords

Example Search Term Brainstorming

Topic: How effective is pet therapy for elderly patients suffering from depression?

Major concepts: pet therapy, elderly patients, depression

	Concept 1	Concept 2	Concept 3
Major concept	pet therapy	elderly patients	depression
Synonyms	animal therapy animal assisted therapy	geriatric patients	melancholy sadness despair
Broader terms	psychiatry therapeutic rehabilitation psychotherapy	elderly aged older people	mental health psychology psychiatry mental illness
Narrower terms	animal assisted therapy	elderly women	chronic depression
Related words	pets attachment theory attachment behavior	gerontology	mood therapy

Penn State University Libraries

CAS 100A: Effective Speech

Reference and Instruction Librarian

Welcome to CAS 100A

Databases and Websites

More databases

Identifying & Brainstorming Keywords

Example Search Term Brainstorming