FCC Research Guides: ENGL 101: Business Theme: Discovering Background Sources

Best FCC Databases for Background Information

Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
The Library's Wikipedia! Search a number of specialized encyclopedias in biography, law, business, substance abuse, multiculturalism, education and more.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Overviews of current controversies in public policy.

FCC Library Databases

Regional Business News (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
US regional business publications.

Ebook Academic Collection (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
180,000+ ebooks covering a broad range of academic subjects, and includes titles from leading university presses and academic publishers.
Gale Opposing ViewPoints in Context This link opens in a new window
Arguments and position papers on both sides of a controversial issue.
Issues and Controversies This link opens in a new window
Overviews of controversial issues with arguments and counter arguments for each issue. Recommend browsing issues rather than searching.
National Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles from The Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun newspapers starting in 1970 to the present.
New York Times Historical Edition This link opens in a new window
Full text of articles from The New York Times from 1851 through 2003.

Websites

Pro-Con.org
Award winning nonpartisan site on controversial issues.
Public Agenda
A nonprofit, nonpartisan research and citizen education resource, founded by social scientist, Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance. Includes statistics, results of polls, policy proposals, and much more.
Wikipedia
Remember: Never cite a Wikipedia article, only use for background info and to find better sources.

Background Information Tutorial
Background research is what you do to get a handle on the next steps of your academic research process. This two part tutorial will teach you all about the role of background research, why doing it is important, and how to do it using one of our databases as an example.
Using Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) for Background Research
The GVRL tutorial applies what was learned in the previous tutorial by guiding you through the use of one of our most popular background information databases.
Using Wikipedia for Academic Research
This tutorial explains how to use Wikipedia as an exploratory tool and where it can appropriately fit in the research process.
Boolean Searching
Use boolean operators to maximize your searches.