NOTE:
Off-campus access
to library databases listed in this guide is limited to WSU students,
staff, and faculty. If you have questions, chat with us online.
Just click on the Online Assistance button at the top right of this
page. Or call the Reference Desk 626-6415 or toll free 1-877-306-3140
FINDING BOOKS
FINDING NEWSPAPER
AND JOURNAL ARTICLES
Newspaper articles may
be found both on the web and in article databases to which the library
subscribes. Generally web sites include only recent issues and
only selected articles. Use article databases for additional coverage.
WEB SITES FOR NEWS
- Yahoo's News
and Media Directory is a good place to start
- Gary Price has compiled a huge list of links to both national
and international news at NewsCenter.
Although it is no longer being updated, it may be of use
- Newseum offers today's
front page from over 400 newspapers in 37 countries with many
from major US cities
- Try stateline.org to
find out what's currently happening in any of the 50 states. It
also includes biographical information on each state's governor
and links to a variety of state information.
ARTICLE DATABASES
The library subscribes
to over 250 article
databases which can be used to find articles from newspapers,
magazines, and journals. Most databases are also available
from off-campus using your WSU
user name and password. To get a copy of an article from a journal
or magazine not owned by Stewart Library, use our Interlibrary
Loan service.
- LexisNexis
Academic Numerous full-text and some reference databases.
Subject focus is news, legal information, medical, and business.
Includes full text news articles from newspapers world-wide and
from New York Times back to June 1980.
- CIOS/ComAbstracts/Com
Index Indexes communication journals; includes links to web
sites in the field of communication, by Communication Institute
for Online Scholarship (CIOS). Lots of useful info for communication
students.
- CIS
Congressional Universe Excellent source of information about
Congress, Congressional hearings, federal laws, etc.
- Communication
and Mass Media Complete The best starting place for articles
from communication journals
- EbscoHost
This group of databases has many full-text articles.
A great starting place for most subjects. Use Academic
Search Premier to find citations and full-text articles from
academic journals covering many topics. Use
Newspaper Source to search articles in U.S. & international
newspapers.
- Ethnic
Newswatch Full-text database with articles from ethnic and
minority newspapers in the U.S.
- Gender
Watch Full-text database with articles dealing with
gender issues
- Proquest
Newspapers Includes the online full-text version of
Wall Street Journal and access to other newspapers.
For other databases on business and criminal justice topics, click
on the multiple databases link next to the search box.
- SIRS
Knowledge Source Full-text articles from newspapers and magazines.
Also provides access to maps, almanac excerpts and government
information.
Other To find
other databases on a variety of subjects, go to our Article
Databases page. If you need assistance please contact
us.
FINDING FACTS,
STATISTICS, AND OTHER INFORMATION
Stewart Library owns many
excellent reference sources. The Internet provides access
to many more.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
- CQ
Researcher Each weekly issue is devoted to a topic of current
interest, such as government spending, abortion, genetic engineering,
mental health, etc., with a chronology, statistics, an examination
of the different facets of the issue, and a bibliography. A good
place to start. (Print version available at Reference desk for
1991-2006)
- Facts on File (Print only, 1950-2004, located in Reference
and General Collections: D 410 .F3) Summary of U.S. and
world events; weekly, with annual compilations.
- Other
FINDING
FACTS
Almanacs
are compilations of facts and figures on just about any
subject, from the Super Bowl to the Oscars, from the GNP of Mali
to the seven wonders of the ancient world. Two of the best known
are:
- The World Almanac Current print edition at Reference
desk, also available via LexisNexis
Academic with excerpts available through SIRS
Knowledge Source
- Time Almanac (formerly Information Please Almanac)
Current print edition at reference desk or try the web version
at Infoplease.com
Encyclopedias are
excellent sources of basic information on a subject.
- Stewart Library subscribes to many online encyclopedias.
Good ones to start with are:
- Subject specific encyclopedias may be found by using the online catalog
or ask at the Reference Desk.
Chronologies
Use chronologies to find out who did what, when.
- Several excellent general and subject specific chronologies
are located on Reference Table 2B.
- Many chronologies and timelines may also be found on the
web. The timelines listed by Yahoo
are a good place to start.
Virtual Libraries
Compilations of a wide variety of web resources, sorted by subject.
Famous First Facts
Want to know who did what first? This is the place to look.
Located on Reference Table 2B. (Also known as Kane's
Famous First Facts)
Chase's Calendar
of Events Day-by-day directory listing birthdays,
anniversaries, annual events, etc. Located on Reference Table
2B.
Other Use
any of the resources listed above under Finding
Newspaper and Journal Articles.
FINDING STATISTICS
- Bureau of Labor Statistics
A large number of statistics related to U.S. labor, production,
consumer price index, etc. Look on their home page for an inflation
calculator to compare prices going back to 1913.
- Statistical
Abstract of the U.S. The best starting place for U.S.
statistics, goes back to 1878. Also available in print at Reference
desk. For historical data, also try Historical
Statistics of the United States--Millennial edition
- Statistical Abstract of Utah Dated
(1996) but provides a wide variety of statistics from Utah government
agencies. Located at Reference desk. The library also
has many publications of Utah state agencies listed in the
library
catalog. Many Utah statistics are now available on the
web. Start at the Utah.gov
page.
- Statistical
Resources on the Web A great collection of links
to government statistics gathered by Stewart Library's Government
Documents Coordinator.
- The Government Statistics site by the University
of Michigan is an excellent starting place. It includes
non-government and foreign sources.
Other resources The
library owns or has access to numerous other statistical resources.
Many statistical sources are located on Reference Table 9B.
For other information, ask for help at the Reference desk.
FINDING
GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
Government
Documents are a wonderful source of information on practically
any subject. Most of the documents we own are located in
the Government Publications stacks at the north end of the main
floor, past the Reference desk. Some of our documents are listed
on the library's online
catalog. To find other documents use finding aids, such as
those listed below. (For statistics, see C.
Finding Statistics)
General
- Links to some of the best government web sites can be found
on Stewart Library's government
documents page. The
University of Michigan and the University
of Memphis also have excellent Internet home pages listing
many government sites.
- GPO Access is
the main gateway to Federal government information. It
contains links to the budget, GAO Reports, Congressional information,
Supreme Court decisions, presidential documents and more.
- Monthly Catalog is an index to documents published by the
Government Printing Office. The online version is known as Catalog
of U.S. Government Publications and goes back to 1994.
Print editions before that date may be found in our Government
Publications area. Our database GPO on SilverPlatter is
one of the easiest ways to begin searching and covers 1976 to
the present.
Congressional Information
For other sources of
information about Congress, try the following:
Census
information is available on the web at www.census.gov
as well as on CD-ROM and in book form. Their "Facts
for Features" (under Newsroom) provides ideas and statistics
for current event articles. Also check out the American
FactFinder.
Utah
Census and demographic information may be found online. Books
with detailed information from the most recent census are kept
at the Reference desk. Other census material is located in the
government publications stacks.
State Information
may be found at stateline.org
and from the Stewart Library State
Resources web page.
Utah government
All Utah state documents owned by the library are listed in our
online catalog.
The Utah Code is on Reference Table 2A and online via
LexisNexis
Academic. For information about Utah on the web, see
Utah.gov.
Local government
The library keeps some Ogden/Weber government information,
such as the Ogden City budget on Reference Table 2A. There
are also web pages for Ogden,
Weber County and Davis
County. For other Utah links, see the Stewart Library's Utah
page.
Other government
information
- CIA
World FactBook is a good source of basic information
(print edition located on Reference Table 5B.)
- The United Nations
has a good web page with many international facts and statistics
- Use the University
of Michigan Documents page for easy access to state and
city government pages.
FINDING LEGAL
INFORMATION
Federal Laws
CIS
Congressional Universe is the best place to start for federal
laws and legislation. For other sources of information about
the federal legislative process, look at the following:
State and Federal Laws,
Court Cases, etc.
- LexisNexis
Academic includes codes and court cases from all states.
Many law journals are available with full-text articles.
Utah Laws
- The Utah Code in print is on Reference Table
2A. It is also available in LexisNexis
Academic and the web. For information about Utah laws on
the web, see Utah.gov..
All Utah state documents owned by the library are listed in
the library's online catalog.
Media Law information
The best way to find information about media and communications
law is to look for a specific subject area. If you look
for books and articles using general terms like media law
or communications law, you may not find much. You
will find a lot of information if you use such terms as:
First Amendment, freedom of the press, libel, privacy, the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA), obscenity, protection of sources, Internet,
copyright and so on.
General background
information
Useful
Legal Sites on the Internet
FINDING INFORMATION ON PEOPLE, PLACES & GROUPS
Finding People
Besides searching directories such as Switchboard.com
and search engines such as Google.com
try these:
Finding Places
Atlases and gazetteers are the places to start. Geographical
information in print format may be found in the following books
on Reference Table 5A:
- The Columbia Gazetteer of the World.
- Encyclopedia of World Cultures
- The Europa World Year Book Especially good for
statistics on each country of the world
- The Statesman's Yearbook Basic facts on countries
of the world
Online sources include
Finding Groups
- The Encyclopedia of Associations (kept at Reference
desk) lists American groups and organizations. The
Encyclopedia of Associations: International Associations
is also located at the Reference Desk.
- The Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media (Reference
Table 4A) provides information about media such as officials,
addresses, circulation, range, etc.
- The Washington Information Directory (at Reference
desk) is a guide to government and private groups working in
Washington, D.C. It includes addresses and contacts for
government agencies, lobbyists, media groups, etc.
Finding Information
about Weber State
- Back issues of the Signpost and yearbooks are available
in Special Collections, 2nd floor south.
- University Archives can be found in Archives, Stewart
Library.
- WSU Budget is kept in Media/Reserve on the lower level.
- The Budget and Institutional Research Office
home page is a particularly good source of information.
- The Communication Department
also has a home page.
- WSU home page.
REPORTING
RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET
SITES FOR JOURNALISTS
American
Communication Association Contains links to information
of interest to all in the field of communications, such as freedom
of speech and information issues, telecommunications issues, and
guides to information in many communications subfields.
American Journalism Review
A premier site for journalists. Check out their "Reporters
Tools" and "Writing Aids"
CIOS:
Communication Institute for Online Scholarship Provides
access to a large number of useful internet links, articles on
communication, and so on.
Committee
to Protect Journalism Dedicated to freedom of the press
around the world.
Current
Awareness Resources via Streaming Audio & Video
Another compilation of links by Gary Price. This list focuses
on audio/video services that can be of use to the information
professional who monitors current events.
CyberJournalist.net
This site includes journalism news and lots of relevant links.
Click on their "Tips & Tools" for info about online
journalism and how to use the Internet for reporting. By the American
Press Institute.
The
Electronic Journalist Lots of useful information
from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Fairness
& Accuracy in Reporting FAIR, a national media watch group,
reports on media bias and censorship issues.
IRE:
Investigative Reporters and Editors Organization page with
much information on developing and maintaining skills, job postings
and other journalism information. Their Broadcast Center includes
award-winning clips of video-streamed broadcasts for the past
20 years.
John
Makulowich's Awesome List Sites selected by former journalist
for their usefulness
JournalismNet
By Julian Sher. Has information about and links to resources
for finding internet information, finding people, online media,
databases and reference tools, story topics, etc. Based
in Canada, but very useful for anyone in the field.
JournalistExpress
A favorite site of Peter Jennings, this one aims to give busy
journalists the best of the web.
Media
Guide to the Utah State Courts Designed to assist journalists
to navigate the court system as they report on cases and court
programs
MegaSources
Compiled by Dean Tudor, Professor at the Ryerson Polytechnic
University (Canada) School of Journalism. Despite
emphasis on Canadian sources, very useful for U.S. reporters as
well. Subjects covered include finding experts, a
list of "best on the net" resources, online reference
help, search engines, etc.
Niles
Online: Providing guidance & services to information
professionals Produced by Robert Niles. The section
on on Finding Data has a very useful annotated list of links.
Also provides a tutorial for understanding the types of
statistics used today.
Power
Reporting Lots of great links here, including top 100 Web
sites for journalists
Speech
and Transcript Center Compiled by Gary Price, a good
starting place for both current and historical speeches, etc.
Student
Press Law Center "A nonprofit organization dedicated
to providing legal help and information to student media and journalism
educators."
Virtual
Gumshoe A good collection of links for investigative reporting.
Writing
and Reporting News, by Carol Rich, 4th ed. The online
guide to accompany this textbook has links to many good websites,
organized by topic.
OTHER USEFUL SITES
Ethics
Updates Provides updates on current literature that
relates to ethics.
FBI
FOIA Files Online access to some of the FBI files
released because of the Freedom of Information Act.
Freedom
of Information Center Provides information and guides
to FOIA.
Media
History Project "Promoting the study of media history
from petroglyphs to pixels"
The
National Security Archive A non-governmental research
institute and library located at George Washington University.
It collects and publishes documents obtained through the FOIA.
The
Smoking Gun Another group that publishes FOIA and other
documents, more oriented to celebrities and "hot" news.
The
Wayback Machine (= Internet Archive) "a digital
library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital
form."
American
Memory Historical Collections from the Library of Congress.
A great place to find information and images for retrospective/historical
pieces.
Snopes.com
Check out the validity of web rumors and urban legends
You can't
find everything on the web, but you can find a lot. Make
it easy on yourself and learn how to use a search engine properly
- always check out the advanced search features. Besides
Google, try
Google Scholar, alltheweb.com
and ask.com which offers
suggestions for narrowing your topic.
Learn how to Google like a pro:
A Scholarly Guide to Google from Widener Library, Harvard.
"The Hidden Web"
consists of sites that search engines can't find, usually due
to the type of files they contain, such as database files.
Many of these sites are very useful. The best way to find
them is to use directory listings. Good general directories
include: Librarian's Internet Index
and The Internet Public Library,
as well as the directory features of Google and Yahoo .