If you need | Then Try These | Which you'll find here |
Factual summary of events (e.g., key players, relevant dates, major events, etc) Commonly-accepted knowledge |
Subject-specific encyclopedias |
Sage Reference Online Gale Virtual Reference Library Encyclopedia of Social Work |
Broad, but in-depth, overview | Books | Library catalog |
Analysis of a particular aspect of an issue, trends that have resulted from an event, or theoretical explanations |
Scholarly articles Some think tank reports |
Subscription databases Targeted Google searches |
Facts and details about events as they happen | Newspapers |
News websites and aggregators |
Statistics |
Government agencies Think Tanks |
Targeted Google searches |
Note that these are just some of the databases that will be useful for you as you look for scholarly journal articles. The databases you use will depend on what your specific topic is. For example, if you are looking at violence again elderly women, you might want to include Ageline. If you are looking at issues of public policy, you might want to include Public Affairs Index. When you log into a database, select "choose databases" above the search bar to see what some of the various options are.