LibGuides: ENG 101 Research and Composition J. Dickinson: Background Sources

Selected Background and Viewpoint Resources

When you click on the link you may be prompted to login with your MyJCC username/password.

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Provides reports on current and controversial issues, giving all sides of an issue and citations to other sources of information. Great for topic selection and focusing. Includes full-text going back to 1923.
Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
Provides essays offering in-depth analysis of all sides of many current social issues. Great for topic selection and focusing. Additional content for many issues available as well.
Points of View Reference Center This link opens in a new window
Provides articles and essays on current and controversial topics. A good source to use when considering all sides of a topic. Includes images, videos, primary documents and radio/TV news transcripts.
Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
A collection of reference eBooks - subject and general encyclopedias, almanacs and dictionaries.
Credo Reference Ebooks This link opens in a new window
An eBook reference library consisting of reference books from many leading publishers. Includes general and subject-specific dictionaries and other reference works.

Why look for a Background Source?

It is very difficult to perform research on a topic if you know little about it.

Consulting a background essay or article on your topic will allow you to:

Obtain an accurate and fairly unbiased overview of your topic.

Learn the key people, places and organizations involved - and learn the proper spellings of these!

Begin to develop an understanding of the topic if it is new to you, or if you have knowledge of the topic, perhaps learn other aspects of it and/or other points of view in relation to the topic.

You can also use these resources to help you select a topic, just browse the reports and look for a topic that interests you.

Viewpoint Sources: Closely related to background sources are viewpoint sources - essentially the opinions of individuals with experience and in-depth knowledge of the topic.

What does the library offer for background and viewpoint sources?

We offer subject encyclopedias in print and in electronic format and these are excellent sources of overview essays on many diverse topics. We also offer specialized databases for background sources, including CQ Researcher, as well as viewpoint resouces such as Opposing Viewpoints.

Try a search for your topic in one or more of the resources listed. We suggest keeping the search rather simple at this point: a word or two relating to the main topic should work well to get you started.

You may not actually cite sources you read as background information (some professors do not allow that), but remember it will be worth looking at to provide you with the information to help you locate other sources.

Important Note! Do not use these background databases as your main source of materials. While Opposing Viewpoints does offer many supporting sources in addition to their viewpoint essays, the other databases provide many, many additional articles. Use the background sources for their intended purpose, essentially they provide introductory information that will help you search other sources more effectively.

If you have trouble with any part of the process please contact us.

Your Librarians / Ask for Help

Need help with something? Ask Us for Help!

If you are on-campus you are encouraged to stop by the Library and ask for help, we welcome the opportunity to work with you.

If you are off-campus and we are open your best option is to call the Reference Desk at 315-786-2482 and ask for one of us. You can also contact us via email or if you need immediate assistance and we are not open, you can chat with a librarian online (likely not a JCC librarian, but helpful nonetheless) as outlined on our "Ask for Help " web page.

We look forward to working with you!

John Thomas (jthomas@sunyjefferson.edu / 315-786-2314)

Beverly Scarpulla (bscarpulla@sunyjefferson.edu / 315-786-2224)