INDV 103 - Societal and Institutional Systems: An Economic Perspective: Introduction to Library Resources
Picking a Topic
Choosing an issue to discuss can be tricky, unless you are already interested in a particular question and have been following media coverage of the issue. If the issue is overly large and/or complex, it will be difficult to discuss in any meaningful fashion in a five-page paper; if it is overly small and/or simple, you may have trouble finding any coverage at all.
The following is a list of library and online resources that will help you choose a topic:
Congressional Digest - JK1.C65
Current issues are in the Main Library Current Journal area (next to Newspapers and Media); previous issues are on the 4th floor.
Congressional Digest is an independent monthly publication featuring controversies in Congress, pro and con. It is not an official government publication, nor is it controlled by any political party or interest group. Each monthly issue covers one controversial topic, giving an overview and position papers, the legislative background and then pro and con positions about the topic by members of Congress. Recent topics related to the economy include taxation of e-commerce, the debate over regulation of industrial emissions, and medical liability insurance and the rising cost of health care. There is a yearly cumulative index as well; issues covered in 2002 include tax and budget priorities and fallout from the Enron mess.
CQ Researcher (online)
http://www.library.arizona.edu/search/articles/dbDetail.jsp?resourceId=426
CQ Researcher discusses a different "hot" topic every week. In the past, topics have included George W. Bush's taxation restructuring plans, drug company ethics, and Medicare reform. CQ Researcher is not affiliated with the federal government and maintains a rigorously impartial stance. It's a good place to find in-depth discussions of the pros and cons of major issues.
Newspaper Editorial and Opinion Papges
Most recent issues are in the Newspapers area of the Main Library (next to Current Journals) in alphabetical order. Some major newspapers are also available online, with full-text articles remaining available for up to a week after publication.
Major newspapers generally have very prominent editorial and opinion pages with short essays on pressing issues of the day, including those pertaining to the economy. It's worth your while to review the "Op-Eds" (opinion-editorial) pages on a regular basis to see what topics are being widely discussed. Newspapers with respected Op-Ed pages include:
New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com (free registration required)
Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com
Los Angeles Times - http://www.latimes.com (free registration required)
Boston Globe - http://www.boston.com/globe
Chicago Tribune - http://www.chicagotribune.com (free registration required)
And for a local take on issues, try:
Arizona Republic - http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic
Arizona Daily Star - http://www.azstarnet.com/
Newspapers, Magazines, and Popular Articles
The following databases are good sources for current newspapers and magazines with news coverage of important issues.
- Access World News - the full text of newspapers from the United States and around the world. This database includes the archives for the Arizona Daily Star and the Arizona Republic.
- Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe - includes sections on general news as well as politics and governmental news. Also has sections on business and legal news.
- Academic Search Complete - full-text articles from a very large selection of newspapers, magazines and journals on all topics.
- InfoTrac OneFile - another large general-interest database, similar to Academic Search Premier.
- The Wall Street Journal - the premier newspaper for coverage of business and industry news.
And for historical coverage, try:
- New York Times - Historic ProQuest Newspapers - historical coverage of the New York Times from its creation in 1851 to 3 years ago. A guide on database use is also available.
- The Wall Street Journal - historical coverage from 1984.
- The Economist - a premier news magazine covering economic topics around the world.
Only selected articles are available full-text from The Economist's web page; for complete content, go to InfoTrac OneFile (see link above) and do a journal search (the journal search option is on the left side of the page) for "Economist." Click on "Economist (US)" for complete coverage.
Researching the Legal Aspects of Your Issue
Findlaw's Business News Section -
http://news.findlaw.com/legalnews/business/
Findlaw is one of the Internet's largest legal information websites. This link will take you to news coverage of business from a legal perspective. You can also search the Findlaw news archives for more on your topic.
Business Law Section, the American Bar Association -
http://www.abanet.org/buslaw/home.html
Choose the tabs near the top of the page labeled "eSource" and "Business Law Today" for more business news coverage from a legal perspective.