Research Guides: First Year Seminars: FYS 126-5 Out of Context

The Research Process

Helpful Library Research Tools

Reference Sources (for finding background info)

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Provides research and analysis of political issues, news, the American Congress, social trends, elections, international affairs, and more. Subscribed sub-collections include: CQ Almanac, Congress Collection, CQ Magazine, and Voting and Elections Collection. 1923 – present.
Issues and Controversies This link opens in a new window
Provides articles about more than 800 hot topics in business, politics, government, education, and popular culture. Updated weekly, with links to a 12-year back-file, Issues and Controversies offers in-depth articles made to inspire thought-provoking debates.
Gale Reference eBooks This link opens in a new window
Provides a database of encyclopedias and reference sources for research. Coverage include the Arts, Business, Education, the Environment, History, Literature, Medicine, Multicultural Studies, Religion, Science and Social Science. 2000 – present.
Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Provides access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses on over 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world.

Newspapers, Magazines, Scholarly Journals, Images

ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
Provides access to thousands of full-text scholarly journals, trade and professional titles, newspapers, magazines, dissertations, working papers, case studies, and market reports. Content covers all major subject areas, including business, health and medical, social sciences, arts and humanities, education, science and technology, and religion.
Flipster Digital Magazines This link opens in a new window
Flipster makes it easy to catch up on news and entertainment. Browse available magazines in the library's pilot collection on your computer, tablet or phone. Search within a magazine when reading online. Download Flipster Apps for reading offline.
New York Times Online, 1981-Present This link opens in a new window
Provides unlimited access to NYTimes.com content from 1981-present. Students, faculty, and staff can create a NYTimes.com account.
Washington Post This link opens in a new window
Access news articles from the daily Washington Post. Journalists report on politics, business, world national news, and more. Coverage goes back on a rolling 15 year basis. NOTE: Account creation is not necessary. The library provides site/remote access but ads will appear alongside news articles.

Google Images
Searches the internet for images on millions of webpages. Google images is a great way to start your search for images as it allows you to quickly try a variety of search terms. Make sure to select appropriate usage rights.

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
Artstor’s collections and key functionality are now available on JSTOR. Explore Artstor’s collections of high-quality images, curated from leading museums and archives around the world. Artstor’s diverse collections are rights-cleared for education and research, and include Open Access content as well as rare materials not available elsewhere
MUSCAT Plus This link opens in a new window
MUSCAT Plus searches for books, journal articles, media, and more in Musselman Library and beyond.

Evaluate Information Sources

Evaluating Sources

Think critically about information sources that you use. Here are a few things to consider when evaluating sources…

Who wrote it and why?

What qualifies the author(s) to write about the topic?
Who is the intended audience?
What is the purpose -- to inform / entertain / persuade / summarize / report new findings?
What is the context in which it was written?

How does it support your research question?

What do you know now that you didn’t know before reading it?
What does the source argue or demonstrate that none of your other sources do?
What questions remain or what new questions are raised when considering the information?

What makes it reliable?

What evidence did the author use to support his/her claims?
Have other people cited or referenced it?
How might someone dismiss it?
Who had to approve or review it before it could be published?

Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

For much of the research that you do at Gettysburg College, professors will request that you use scholarly articles (from peer-reviewed journals, rather than popular magazines and websites.) If you need help telling the difference, see this guide on the library website.

First Year Seminars: FYS 126-5 Out of Context

Citation Help

Questions? Ask your librarian!

Who, What, and When?

The Research Process

Helpful Library Research Tools

Evaluate Information Sources