• How to Find a Controversial Topic
  • Print Resources for Controversial Issues
• Highly Recommended Resources for Controversial Issues
• Other Print Resources for Controversial Issues
• Electronic Databases for Controversial Issues
• "A Top Twenty List" for Controversial Issues
• Research Guides From Other Academic Libraries on Controversial Issues
• Other Useful Web Links for Controversial Issues
• General Information on Controversial Issues
• Electronic Full Text of Articles and Newspapers for Controversial Issues
• Selected Organizations Concerned with Controversial Issues
• Statistics on Controversial Issues

How to Find a Controversial Topic

• Browse issues of such publications as CQ Researcher, CQ Weekly Report, Congressional Digest, Time, and Vital Speeches of the Day
• Browse current newspapers or internet news
• Browse a current volume of the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature
• Check suggested topics in the following books:
  • 306 Wt28h   Hot Topics: Everything you Ever Wanted to Know About the 50 Major Controversies Everyone Pretends to Know About
  • Ref. 808.02   10,000 Ideas for Term Papers, Projects, Reports, and Speeches

Print Resources for Controversial Issues

Highly Recommended Resources for Controversial Issues

Check the Boreham Library Online Catalog by title to locate call numbers for the following:

• Contemporary World Issues
• Contemporary World Views
• Current Controversies
• Information Plus: the Information Series on Current Topics
• Opposing Viewpoints
• Reference Shelf
• Taking Sides

Other Print Resources for Controversial Issues

For specific controversial topics, search the online catalog by keyword or subject. The Reference Collection contains subject encyclopedias which may provide background information, statistics, or analyses. Examples of useful titles are the following:

Reference 060 En19	Encyclopedia of Associations
Reference 174.203 En19	Encyclopedia of Bioethics
Reference 310 En19sh	Encyclopedia of American Social History
Reference 364.0321 En19	Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice
Reference 362.2903 En19	Encyclopedia of Drugs and Alcohol
Reference 917.303 H629h	Historic Documents
Reference 348.7303 W529	West's Encyclopedia of American Law
Reference 310 W893	World Almanac

Electronic Databases for Controversial Issues

• Ebsco Academic Search Premier [Full-Text]
• Lexis-Nexis [Full-Text]
• Boreham Library Online Catalog (books)
• World Catalog (books in other libraries)

Additional databases are listed under the link for the A-Z alphabetical list of databases.

"A Top Twenty List" for Controversial Issues

• Alternative Viewpoints on the Internet
  

Over 250 resources across the political and social spectrum compiled by the Alternative Press Center
http://www.altpress.org

• Brookings Institution
  

Policy briefs, opinions, editorials, and other articles from the Brookings Institution
http://www.brookings.edu

• Gallup Organization
  

http://www.gallup.com

• Government Documents in the News (U of Michigan Documents Center)
  

http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs

• Links to the News (Poynter Institute of Media Studies)
  

http://www.poynter.org

• Moving Ideas.Com
  

Best ideas and resources on public policies from research institutions
http://movingideas.org

• National Center for Policy Analysis
  

http://www.ncpa.org

• Opinion-Pages
  

Links to opinion pages for newspapers around the world
http://www.opinion-pages.org

• PBS Online News Hour
  

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/background.html

• Policy.com
  

http://www.policylibrary.com

• Political Information
  

Database of political and policy websites for news, commentary, and editorials
http://www.politicalinformation.com

• Project VoteSmart
  

http://www.vote-smart.org/issues

• Public Agenda Online
  

An inside source for public opinion and policy analysis
http://www.publicagenda.org

• Public Opinion Online
  

http://www.pollingreport.com

• Public Policy Issues
  

http://www.policylibrary.com

• Rand Corporation
  

Scholarly analysis of selected public issues
http://www.rand.org

• Science a GoGo
  

http://scienceagogo.com

• Science in the Headlines (The National Academy of Science)
  

http://www.nationalacademies.org

• Speak Out.com
  

Daily source of news, opinions, and non-biased articles from 1996 to present
http://www.speakout.com

• Urban Institute
  

http://www.urban.org

Research Guides From Other Academic Libraries on Controversial Issues

Many of these web sites list specific links for current issues.

• St. Ambrose University's Okeefe Library--"Best Information on the Net - Hot Paper Topics "
  

http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/HOT/hotindex.htm

• Broward Community College—University/College Pathfinders
  

http://ucl.broward.cc.fl.us/pathtopics.htm

• California State University Fresno "Springboard to Current Information"
  

http://www.csufresno.edu/universityone/hot

• Kingwood College Library Online--"Current Topics for Research"
  

http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/hot-topics.html

• North Harris College Library— "Controversial Topics"
  

http://nhclibrary.nhmccd.edu/research/subject/controversial/index.html

• San Diego State University--"Hot Topics Supersites"
  

Reliable web sites on a wide variety of topics
http://infodome.sdsu.edu/research/guides/hot/list

• University of Southern Indiana— Rice Library "Controversial Issues"
  

http://www.usi.edu/library/Documents/Current%20issues/Controversial%20Issues.pdf

• University of Albany Libraries "Sites in the News"
  

http://library.albany.edu/reference/sites.html

• University of Louisville— Ekstrom Library Hot Topics
  

http://library.louisville.edu/government/news/otherlinks/otherlinks.html

Other Useful Web Links for Controversial Issues

General Information on Controversial Issues

• Yahoo Culture and Society-Issues and Causes
  

http://dir.yahoo.com/society_and_culture/issues_and_causes

Electronic Full Text of Articles and Newspapers for Controversial Issues

• Find Articles
  

Full text from more than 300 magazines and journals
http://www.findarticles.com

• High Wire Press: Library of the Sciences and Medicine
  

http://highwire.stanford.edu

• Internet Public Library-International Newspapers online
  

http://www.ipl.org/reading/news

• Strategian: Strategic Guide to Quality Information in Sciences
  

http://www.strategian.com

Legislation (Currrent bills, public laws, congressional committees)

http://thomas.loc.gov

Selected Organizations Concerned with Controversial Issues

The Encyclopedia of Associations provides names and addresses of other organizations. This title is located in Reference 060 En19.

• American Civil Liberties Union-Issues Links
  

http://www.aclu.org

• Commonwealth Fund: (Health care and health insurance issues)
  

http://www.cmwf.org

• Electronic Frontier Foundation
  

http://www.eff.org

• Democratic National Committee
  

http://www.democrats.org

• National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect
  

http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/

• National Coalition Against Censorship
  

http://www.ncac.org

• Republican National Committee
  

http://www.rnc.org

• SafeSurf (Internet Pornography)
  

http://www.safesurf.com

Statistics on Controversial Issues

• Arkansas State Data Center
  

http://www.aiea.ualr.edu/csdc/default.html

• Census Bureau
  

http://www.census.gov

• Fedstats
  

http://www.fedstats.gov

• Population Index
  

http://popindex.princeton.edu

• Statistical Abstract of the United States
  

http://www.census.gov/statab/www

• Statistical Resources on the Web
  

http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/statsnew.html

Return to the Research Guides page