Getting Started
Using Wikipedia or Google is a good thing!
Your first instinct for quick information is to do an online search using Google or Wikipedia. That is a perfect way to get started! The only way to begin your research is to start seeking out information and freely available resources, like Google and Wikipedia is the easiest way to begin.
The Benefits of Wikipedia:
We all use Wikipedia, even professors and librarians. It's the largest online general reference resource and covers an impressive breadth of general information.
Since Wikipedia was founded in 2001, it has greatly improved its standards for creating and editing pages. There are now content policies and guidelines in place.
Everyone must have a registered account to create and edit pages and follow Wikipedia's extensive content policies.
Volunteer editors and administrators are quick to remove or take down any misleading or incorrect content.
Wikipedia pages also contain solid references and footnotes citing where the content creator got their information, which makes it easy for people to find potential sources for a research topic.
Watch the video below to learn more about Wikipedia and how to use it effectively.
Benefits of Using Library Reference Sources
Now that you've learned a little bit about the benefits of using Wikipedia, becoming familiar and using resources here at the UI Libraries should be your next step. At the Libraries, we have many reference tools and resources both in print and online. On this page you'll find several online resources, like Online News Collections and and reference databases like CQ Researcher or Gale Opposing Viewpoints.
Just as there are benefits of using Wikipedia, there are benefits of using library resources.
First, using the resources and tools the library owns and pays for is a smart use of your money as college students, staff, and faculty.
Second, using library tools helps you learn college level research skills and makes you a more savvy researcher, overall. Not to mention, using library databases gives you unlimited access to highly credible, peer-reviewed, scholarly literature you will not find on the internet.
Using Newspapers for Background Research
You can find a wealth of information on just about any topic using online and print newspapers. The University of Iowa Libraries has access to more than hundreds of newspapers, available through our subscriptions. Many of these we have available online.
Online News Databases
- ABI/INFORM Global This link opens in a new windowSearch nearly 1,800 premier worldwide business periodicals for information on companies, computers, advertising, marketing, economics, personnel, finance, taxation, etc. Includes the Wall Street Journal full-text 1984-
- Academic Search Elite This link opens in a new windowThis multi-disciplinary database offers full text for nearly 2,000 scholarly journals, including more than 1,500 peer-reviewed titles. Covering virtually every area of academic study, Academic Search Elite offers full text information dating as far back as 1985. This database is updated on a daily basis.
- Access World News Research Collection This link opens in a new windowNewspaper collections from NewsBank provide full-text articles from the electronic editions for over 600 U.S. and over 700 international newspapers. Includes: Chicago Tribune, and Des Moines Register.
- America's News Magazines This link opens in a new windowCoverage of U.S. and international news, business, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, and science and technology from 26 familiar magazines.
- Ethnic News WatchEthnic NewsWatch is an interdisciplinary, bilingual (English and Spanish) and comprehensive full text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press.
- Factiva This link opens in a new window
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Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune are not accessible from Factiva. Contains a wide variety of financial information including business and economic news, text-search services, stock market quotations, financial and investment services and general news and information.
NB: 10 simultaneous user limit.
- FAIR: Fairness and Accuracy in ReportingFAIR, the national media watch group, offers criticism of media bias and censorship.
- Foreign Broadcast Information Services (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1941-1996The United States' principal record of political and historical open source intelligence, FBIS is an index foreign media reports covering political, economic, scientific, and cultural issues and events throughout the world. FBIS includes full-text English-language and English-language translations of radio and television broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements.
- LexisNexis Academic (now called Nexis Uni) This link opens in a new window
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TURN OFF POP-UP BLOCKER; Researchers can quickly and easily search full-text documents from over 17,000 credible sources of information and pinpoint relevant information for a wide range of academic research projects. Extensive legal sources for federal and state cases and statutes, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1790
- Local News IndexLocal News Index, produced by the Iowa City Public Library, provides indexing for local newspapers and magazines including the Press Citizen, Daily Iowan, Little Village, Icon, Iowa City Magazine and Gazette and portions of the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
- NewslinkAn index of all known online national, state, international, and campus newspapers.
- Newspaper Source Plus This link opens in a new windowNewspaper Source provides selected full text for over 200 regional U.S. newspapers, international newspapers, newswires, newspaper columns and other sources as well as indexing and abstracts for national newspapers. This database is updated daily.
- Roll Call"The Newspaper of Capitol Hill," Roll Call since 1996 has offered this companion Web edition to the newsprint version. A source for Congressional news and information, it posts leading stories, editorials, election news, commentary, cartoons, etc.
- Television News ArchiveSearchable archive of abstracts of news broadcasts from 1968 to present (ABC, CBS, NBC), 1995 to present (CNN), selected content from PBS and FOX News. Video content from CNN viewable with RealOne media player.
- World News ConnectionWNC is an online news service of non-U.S. media sources provided by the National Technical Information Service.
- Alt-Press Watch This link opens in a new windowFull-text database indexes over 250 alternative, radical and left periodicals, newspapers and magazines. Includes selected abstracts from research journals. (Main Library Reference Area holds vol. 1- July 1969- to present in the paper edition.)
- American Antiquarian SocietyCollection of books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, music, and graphic arts material printed through 1876 in what is now the United States, as well as manuscripts and a substantial collection of secondary texts, bibliographies, and digital resources and reference works related to all aspects of American history and culture before the twentieth century.
- The Annals of IowaIncludes articles on Iowa history and on subjects concerning the nation and the Midwest with an Iowa focus, including state, local, and regional studies of political, economic, social, cultural, intellectual, institutional, ethnic, religious, material culture, archeological, and architectural history.
- Archive FinderArchive Finder is a current directory which describes over 220,000 collections of primary source material housed in thousands of repositories across the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Historical News
The Proquest Historical Newspapers offer full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. Each newspaper collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
Users can cross-search titles.
- Atlanta Daily World, 1931-2003 (Proquest Historical Newspapers: Black Newspapers Collection) This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1931 - 2003
ProQuest Historical Newspapers-Black Newspapers collection - Chicago Defender, 1909-1975 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Black Newspapers Collection) This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1909 - 1975
ProQuest Historical Newspapers-Black Newspapers collection - Chicago Tribune, 1849-1998 (Proquest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1849 - 1993
- Des Moines Register (1871-) This link opens in a new windowPart of the ProQuest Historical Newspapers (HNP) Iowa Collection.
- Detroit Free Press, 1831-1922 (Proquest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
- Iowa City Press Citizen (1965-) This link opens in a new windowPart of the ProQuest Historical Newspapers (HNP) Iowa Collection.
- Iowa Collection (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new windowIncludes the Des Moines Register (1871-2008) and the Iowa City Press-Citizen (1965-2008).
- Los Angeles Sentinel, 1934-2005 (Proquest Historical Newspapers: Black Newspapers Collection) This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1934 - 2005
ProQuest Historical Newspapers-Black Newspapers collection - Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1867-2001 (Proquest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new windowThis historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.
- New York Amsterdam News, 1922-1993 (Proquest Historical Newspapers: Black Newspapers Collection) This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1922 - 1993
ProQuest Historical Newspapers-Black Newspapers collection - New York Times, 1851-2019 (Proquest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1851 - 2013
- Pittsburgh Courier, 1911-2002 (Proquest Historical Newspapers: Black Newspapers Collection) This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1911 - 2002
ProQuest Historical Newspapers-Black Newspapers collection - St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1874-2003 (Proquest Historical newspapers) This link opens in a new window
- Wall Street Journal, 1889-2011 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1889-2000
- Washington Post, 1877-2006 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1877-2000
International Papers
-------------------------------------------------------- - Guardian and The Observer, 1791-2003 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new windowCoverage The Guardian: (1821-2003)
Coverage The Observer: (1791-2003) - Times of India, 1838-2010 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new windowCoverage: 1838-2004
Search Reference Sources
Top 5 Online Reference Resources besides Wikipedia
CQ Researcher
Written by experienced journalists, footnoted and professionally fact-checked. CQ Researcher provides in-depth coverage of the most important issues of the day.
Oxford Reference
Multi-part database of the online versions of seminal Oxford University Press texts. Each topical division contains the searchable version of the latest edition of published dictionaries and encyclopedias.
SAGE eReference
An online collection of reference books covering the social sciences and education, including African American Studies, Aging & Gerontology, Anthropology, Communication and Media Studies, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Economics, Education, Gender & Sexuality Studies, History, Politics, Psychology, Social Issues, Social Work & Social Policy, and Sociology.
Gale Opposing Viewpoints
Opposing Viewpoints in Context offers an engaging online experience for those seeking contextual information and opinions on hundreds of today's hottest social issues. Drawing on the acclaimed Greenhaven Press series, Opposing Viewpoints in Context features continuously updated viewpoints, topic overviews, full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites organized into a user-friendly portal experience