English 1C Definitional Argument Paper

Of course, the Gavilan Library has a full range of dictionaries and encyclopedias in our reference collection, including specialized ones, like Civil Rights in the United States (at Ref E184 .A1 C47 2000), orThe Encyclopedia of Adoption (at Ref HV875.55 .A28 2000). We might have an entire encyclopedia just on your topic, so be sure to ask. We also have the following subscription databases. From off-campus, you will need to have a user ID and a password, available at the Gavilan Library:

Encyclopedia Britannica
The Encyclopedia Britannica is always worth a look, for background information and basic facts.

The following periodical indexes give you access to magazine, journal and newspaper articles as they were originally published.

Proquest is a magazine, journal and newspaper article database. It indexes thousands of magazines, newspapers and journals. Many articles are available in full text, exactly as they appeared originally in the publication. To access from off-campus, you'll need a library card (available at the Gavilan library).

Ethnic NewsWatch is a full-text general reference database of over 200 newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press -- English and Spanish language. The titles in Ethnic NewsWatch represent the diversity of the American population in ways that are generally not seen in the mainstream media. You can find articles from La Opinión (the only daily Spanish-language newspaper in California), the Sacramento Observer (an African American newspaper), and the Arab American News. From off-campus, you'll need a user ID and a password.

CQResearcher covers a wide range of social, economic, political, and environmental issues. Each report is divided into specific sections to guide research. CQ Researcher offers in-depth, non-biased coverage of today's most important issues. Each report is on a single topic--more than 12,000 words of text and extensive bibliographies. Each weekly issue provides up-to-date information on controversial subjects written by CQ's staff of experienced reporters.

Alternative News Sources:

Common Dreams is a searchable daily news site that collects and posts stories that have a progressive viewpoint from newspapers around the world and pieces that were specially written for Common Dreams. They have a huge collection of alternative links. Scroll down and look at the left-hand column for links to newspapers, news wires, magazines and radio stations. Scroll down and look at the right-hand column for links to government related information, specific columnists, and TV stations.

AlterNet (From their web site)"provides a mix of news, opinion and investigative journalism on subjects ranging from the environment, the drug war, technology and cultural trends to policy debate, sexual politics and health issues. The AlterNet article database includes more than 7,000 stories from over 200 sources."

ZNet "a community of people committed to social change" is from the folks who bring you Z Magazine. Their web site is enormous with thousands of files, but it is searchable.

Independent Media Center (from their web site) "Originally formed in 1999 for the purpose of providing grassroots coverage of the World Trade Organization (WTO) protests in Seattle, IndyMedia is a collective of independent media organizations and hundreds of journalists offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage." Scroll down and click on the link in the column on the right for links to local IndyMedia centers all over the world.

International News Sources:

Common Dreams has a page of links to newspapers around the world .
The Newslink site has international news links, by country. Scroll down until you see the listing for different world areas, then pick a country.

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: