English 155: A Global Proposal (MacIntyre)
Finding an Issue
These websites highlight big environmental issues and can help you select an environmental problem for your paper:
- Environmental Protection Agency: Learn the Issues
- Natural Resources Defense Council: Issues
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Sierra Club: Goals
Finding Background Information
Learning more about your environmental problem before you begin can help you formulate your arguments and can help you pick additional search terms.
- Credo Reference - provides overview information (from encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies and books of quotations) on a wide range of topics.
- CQ Researcher - covers current controversial topics and includes pro/con section and a bibliography.
- Gale Virtual Reference Library - contains encyclopedia articles on a wide range of topics that can give you an overview of an issue.
Narrow or Broaden Your Search (Boolean Searching)
Use AND between terms to narrow your search
example: television and violence and children
Use OR and/or truncate (*, ?) words to broaden your search
example: children or youth or adolescents
example: child* (will find child, children, etc.)
example: wom?n (will find woman or women)
Note: check online help for the correct truncation symbol
Finding Articles
You can use these databases or any others listed on the database pages; this list is only a suggestion of places to start your research. If the full-text is not available for the article you want to see, click the 
button or the "Find Text" link to see if the full-text is available in another database.
- GreenFILE focuses on all aspects of human impact on the environment
- Multi-subject databases like Academic Search Elite or General OneFile
- Subject-specific databases like those on the Biology subject page
Help with Methods
These sites can help you find information on current government programs and methods:
- The EPA's A-Z index of topics
- Science.gov searches many government websites and databases.
Citing Your Sources
The library website provides sample citations for MLA, APA, and other citation styles on the Citing Your Sources page.
Contact Information
If you have questions as you do your research, you can contact me directly at danielle.skaggs@csun.edu or 818-677-6808. For help 24/7, go to Ask A Librarian.
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