Library Resources

DiscoverE
Because DiscoverE searches such a broad array of information (books, articles, electronic collections), it's a great way to get an overview of your topic.  Preliminary searches in DiscoverE can give you an idea of concepts and issues associated with your topic, help you come up with additional terms to search for in the databases, and find resources that might be helpful later, which you can save to your electronic storage shelf.

CQ Researcher
CQ Researcher publishes reports on current, controversial topics.  These reports are great starting places, because they discuss both sides of a debate, provide a chronology of important events related to the issue, and offer a bibliography of suggested sources for further reading and research.

Online Resources

Using statistics as supporting evidence can help you build a strong argument.  These websites are good sources to find reliable statistical information.  If you find other statistical sources, however, make sure that the data you find are from a credible source that tells you who conducted the study and when the statistics were retrieved.

Department of Homeland Security - Immigration Statistics

Pew Hispanic Center

U.S. Census Bureau - Immigration Data

Remember to search by words, and not by sentences or phrases.

Use the connector "AND" to build specific searches:

• immigration AND education
• stereotypes AND Asians

Use the options in the left-hand navigation bar to limit your search further:

• Look for the most recent publications by limiting by CREATION DATE.
• Limit your search to a specific TOPIC. (These Topics can also be useful in helping you think of additional words to search in the databases.) 
• Select Oxford LIBRARY to look for materials at this library.

General Databases

Multi-disciplinary databases with both scholarly and popular articles, many available in full-text:

Academic Search Complete

ProQuest Databases

Multidisciplinary, all-scholarly databases, almost all full-text:

JSTOR

Project MUSE

Sociology Databases

The field of sociology encompasses issues dealing with race, ethnicity, and social behavior.

SocINDEX

Sociological Abstracts

Psychology Database

The field of psychology can help you address people's beliefs about stereotypes, prejudice, and other cultures.

PsycINFO
Psychology

Newspaper Databases

Newspaper articles provide an interesting perspective on how certain topics, such as immigration and prejudice, are treated in the mainstream media.  You can also find specific stories and examples that provide real-life examples of the issues talked about in books and scholarly articles.

LexisNexis Academic Universe

Newsbank Access World News

Don't forget to evaluate your sources based on:

1. Relevance
2. Evidence
3. Author of source
4. Publisher of source
5. Timeliness
6. Comprehensiveness

Another crucial step of the research process is avoiding plagiarism by CITING YOUR SOURCES!!  The library offers 2 options for helping you cite your sources in bibliographies:

• EndNote
  Software available on all the library computers (and available for download onto your personal computer) that creates in-text and bibliographic citations in Microsoft Word
• Zotero
  Also available on all library computers; an add-on for the Firefox browser that allows you to capture bibliographic information from web pages - even from a page of search results from a database or amazon.com! - and drag-and-drop a citation directly onto any area where you can type

Ask a librarian for help with either of these citation tools that will completely blow your mind!