Think about your identity. Make a list of all the terms, words, and groups of people that make up that identity. For example, if you identify as a First Generation College student, you might be interested in cost of college or graduation rates of first generation college students. 

TIP: Successful searches for information require you to be creative and flexible. The words you use to describe your topic may be different than the words used by the person who created the information you need to find.

Tips on locating policies using any database or website:

Policy is a broad term to describe any set of principles, rules, regulations, or laws adopted by an organization, either by a government body or any institution. 

•  Begin with Congress.gov to search for recent legislative action on all current bills. 

• Search newspapers for current events. You can do a simple search on a topic related to your identity plus "policy". Example: "Higher education policies" or "College entrance requirements" AND policy

  • Using "quotation marks" ensures that phrases such as "college entrance requirements" are searched as one thing rather than three separate words.
  • In some databases and search engines, capitalizing search operators AND, OR and NOT ensures they are used to employ search logic rather than simply as another word.

The Iowa Women's Archives, located on the third floor of the UI Main Library, has a wide variety of sources related to Iowa history, and not just women:-)

The Diversity & Social Justice Collections guide is a good place to look for interviews and other primary sources on social justice issues in Iowa.