Public Discourse is the communication that shapes (or challenges) our shared beliefs and norms as a society.
When choosing where to locate sources, consider the type of information you need. Some research tools are more likely to include relevant sources than others.
This page emphasizes sources for public discourse. This resource list is NOT comprehensive. Internet research can help you locate additional resources.
Below you can find detailed information on Gale in Context's Opposing Viewpoints and CQ Researcher, two key resources for this course. It also includes a list of general resources, national and international news, local news, and polls.
Opposing Viewpoints is a resource by Gale in Context. It provides information on social issues, including viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles. There are also featured news and featured videos. The items in Opposing Viewpoints are fully searchable, or you can browse by individual topics for lists of items concerning the issue, pro and con.
Image taken from https://go-gale-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/ps/start.do?p=OVIC&u=iuclassb
CQ Researcher is an online periodical covering current events. Its articles include an overview, historical background, chronology, pro/con feature, plus resources for additional research. Graphics, photos and short "sidebar" features round out the reports. Shorter "Hot Topics" articles provide a solid introduction to subjects most in demand by students.
Image taken from https://library-cqpress-com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/cqresearcher/
An electronic library containing the AP's current photos and a selection of pictures from their 50 million image print and negative library. International in scope with images dating back as early as 1826.
Brings together much of IU Libraries' content, allowing users to simultaneously search IUCAT, scholarly article databases, news and popular publications to retrieve a wide range of materials across subject areas.
The Indiana University online catalog.
IUCAT, Indiana University's online library catalog, provides comprehensive access to millions of items held by the IU Libraries statewide, including books, recordings, US government publications, periodicals, and other types of material. Users can access IUCAT from any Internet-connected computer or device, whether in the libraries, on campus, or off campus.
Provides full-text coverage of magazine, newspaper, and scholarly journal articles for most academic disciplines.
This multi-disciplinary database provides full-text for more than 4,500 journals, including full text for more than 3,700 peer-reviewed titles. PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 titles.
Provides summaries of domestic and international news stories 1940-present. Covers major political, social, and economic events, including elections, wars and conflicts, and government and civics information. Maps and charts are included, as are graphs, historic photographs, and story indexes by decade, country, and topic.
Articles from newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press in America; full text and searchable in English and Spanish
Ethnic NewsWatch (ENW) features newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press, providing researchers access to essential, often overlooked perspectives. With titles dating from 1990, ENW presents a comprehensive, full-text collection of nearly 1.6 million articles from more than 280 publications offering both national and regional coverage. While the content may mirror mainstream media coverage, the viewpoints are decidedly unique.
Ethnic NewsWatch delivers hundreds of ethnocentric publications. The voices of the Asian American, Jewish, African American, Native American, Arab American, Eastern European, and multi-ethnic communities can be heard. Titles include New York Amsterdam News, Asian Week, Jewish Exponent, Seminole Tribune, and many more. A majority of this content is exclusive to ENW and not available in any other database.
Alternative Press Index Archive offers both international and interdisciplinary coverage of a variety of alternative sources, indexing information on topics of cultural, economic, political and social change.
Focus is on the practice and theory of socialism, national liberation, labor, Indigenous peoples, LGBT, feminism, ecology, democracy, and anarchism.
A collection of historical newspapers from around the globe.
World Newspaper Archive is a fully-searchable collection of historical newspapers from around the globe. It was created in partnership with the Center for Research Libraries- one of the world's largest and most important newspaper repositories.
Includes articles from local, regional, national and international newspapers, magazines, online journals, television and radio broadcasts, newswires and blogs, transcripts, and legal research, as well as federal and state cases and statutes, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1790. Also includes access to Nexis Dossier.
Comprehensive coverage of news and current events, government, business, medical, and legal topics, as well as general reference information is included. Formats found in Nexis Uni are: international and domestic newspapers, magazines and trade journals, broadcast transcripts (NPR, ABC News, CBS News, and CNN), company financial information, industry and market news, federal and state case law, law reviews, medical news and abstracts, and state and country profiles. Includes business information on over 80 million U.S. and international companies and 75 million executives. Non-English language news sources are available in Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Dutch. Campus news from some 400 college/university papers and over 50 wire services are also available.
To access Nexis Dossier select "Business" (near the bottom of the Nexis Uni homepage). Then select "Create a Company List" in the Company Dossier box.
The world's most available, extensive and complete archive of major network television news. The database currently includes 725,000 records, including abstracts at the story level of regular evening news and special news program. These broadcasts cover presidential press conferences and political campaigns, national and international events such as the Watergate hearings, the plight of American hostages in Iran, the Persian Gulf war, and the terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001. All broadcasts are copyright protected for class and research use. The database will list results of individual story-level records. From each of these records you can press the button to display the listing of the entire program. Online video is available for CNN news broadcasts from 1999 to the present, as indicated by the Video clip available. You can request complete programs or compilations of selected items to be copied onto videotape. The news archive charges a fee to recover the cost of providing this service.
Local newspaper for Bloomington, Indiana, and surrounding communities. Users may access the E-Edition of the HTO here.
Additional access options: access to content 1988-Present (with a slight lag time for new issues) is available via Access World News.
Online full text access to Indiana newspapers, including the Indianapolis Star (1903–Present), Evansville Courier & Press, Indianapolis News, Journal and Courier (Lafayette), Palladium-Item (Richmond), and The Star Press (Muncie).
The Indianapolis Star is currently the only major daily newspaper in Indianapolis. Additional access options:
Access to the Indianapolis Star 1903-2004 (via ProQuest Historical Newspapers).
The IUB Library holds the physical microfilm for the Indianapolis Star, 1907-present, located on the second floor of the East Tower, call number AN2 .I3S7.
Digital access to more than 1000 historical newspapers from communities within Indiana.
Includes digitized copies and content of the follwing local Indiana Newspapers: Bloomington Evening World (1907-1923), Indiana Daily Student (1867-1923), Madison Herald, Indianapolis State Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette,Terre Haute Star and Indianapolis Sun.
Public opinion surveys conducted by polling organizations in the United States and other countries. Aggregated from more than 1,000 sources, these polls cover breaking-news events, and various topics, including affirmative action, criminal justice reform, drugs, foreign policy, immigration, race relations, the United Nations, and voting rights.
In addition to tracking political disputes on hot-button issues dating back to the Reagan administration, Polling the Nations includes tens of thousands of polls on global affairs, popular culture, sports, health, inventions, religion, gender, and other diverse subjects.
Each of the nearly 350,000 records reports a question asked and the responses given. Also included in each record is the polling organization responsible for the work, the date the information was released, the sample size, and universe, i.e., the groups or areas included in the interview, such as parents with children in public schools, Great Britain or California.
The print and microfiche counterpart to this resource is titled American Public Opinion Index. It begins in 1981, covering five earlier years complementing this web resource:
Wells Library Reference Department
HM261 .A463
Holdings: 1981-1998
Cumulative index for 1981-1985