Selecting a Topic
Browse these resources for topic ideas:
- New York Times, Room for Debate Scroll down to see major discussion topics on the right.
- Opposing Viewpoints is a good database for pro/con arguments on controversial political and social issues.
- CQ Researcher is a great source for current political and social issues. The database has full-text reports on specific topics such as special education, eating disorders, and gay marriage, etc.
Finding Background Information
These can be good sources for finding background information on a topic as well as basic facts:
- Gale Virtual Reference Library A database of over 300 online encyclopedias.
- SAGE Knowledge Contains nearly 300 encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
- Europa World Online Includes economic, political and geographic background information and statistical data for over 250 countries.
Finding Articles
From the library's home page, click on 
on the right to find citations, abstracts, and sometimes the full-text of entire articles.
The first three databases below cover a broad range of academic journals and popular magazines, and are good places to start your research:
- Fusion
- Academic Search Premier
- ProQuest Research Library
- LexisNexis Academic has full-text articles from other 5,000 news sources, such as national and regional newspapers like the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, plus international news sources, transcripts of news programs, news magazines, etc.
- Google News offers free current articles from selected local, national, and international newspapers. Search Google News by topic in English, or from the main search page, click on "U.S. Editions" box to select other editions (e.g., newspapers in foreign languages).
Finding Books
Use Ignacio, our library’s catalog of books, journals, and videos available here at USF. Start your search by clicking on 
on the library home page.
- Search by KEYWORD to combine terms and use terms that describe the main ideas of your topic.
- Browse by SUBJECT to find a listing of books to focus your search.
- Search Link+ to find and borrow books from over 40 libraries.
