CHATTANOOGA STATE TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE   
Augusta R. Kolwyck Library
http://library.chattanoogastate.edu
697-4448

DSPW0800 (Online)--Becky Cantrell--Spring 2008
Library Contact:  Tisa Houck

Assignment:  Students will write a 4-5 page report on one of three topics: an influential person, an environmental issue, or a family/parenting issue.  Four sources are required.   If websites are used, they must be ones that are included on this assignment guide or on the library's databases.

I.  Finding information for your research paper.

To find magazine and newspaper articles for your paper, you will need to use one of the library's databases. To access these databases from off-campus you will need the current passwords. Becky will send you an email with the current passwords.

If you have chosen an influential person for your paper topic, use this database for information: 

Biography Resource Center
        Tips for searching:

1.  Type in your person's name (spelled correctly) and click SEARCH.

2.  Click on the correct entry if more than one is listed.

The tab provides more thorough essays from reference books.

The tab provides short articles from reference books.

The tab provides articles from popular magazines, news magazines, and professional journals.

The tab provides access to selected websites.

3.  Click on any of the tabs to see a list of essays or articles.

4.  Click on the blue links to see the text of the articles.

5.  Print or email articles to yourself or your instructor with the
 and icons located on the left side of the screen.  You must email a copy of each of your sources to your instructor.
 

If you have chosen to write your paper about an environmental issue or a family/parenting issue, use this database for information:

MasterFILE Premier (Contains articles from magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, and reference books)
   
        Tips for searching:
Type in your topic in one or two words. (You may combine terms with and.)
        Use an asterick (*) to search all forms of the word (ex. environ* searches environment, environmental, environmentalist; parent* searches parent, parents, parenting, parental, parenthood)
The Full Text box is already checked so that your search to results will contain the entire article.
Click the <Search> key.
Click on the PDF Full Text link or the HTML Full Text link to view the text of the article.
Print or email articles (click here for instructions) to yourself and your instructor with the Print  and E-mail icons at the top of the page.
 

Now view a short demonstration of how to search MasterFile Premier at this link: 
How to Search MasterFile Premier

Use only authoritative and reliable Internet sites (click here for evaluation criteria) such as these:

For biographical information:

PBS--History (http://www.pbs.org/history/)
        Contains biographies of dozens of men and women whose lives have shaped the course of history.

The Biographical Dictionary (http://s9.com/)
         This site features a searchable database of important figures in various fields.

 

A&E Biography (http://www.biography.com/)

This site, sponsored by the cable network A&E, lists over 20,000 of the greatest names both past and present with a biography for each.

 

For environmental issues:

Scorecard: the pollution information site (http://www.scorecard.org/)
        Scorecard is the web's most popular resource for information about pollution problems and toxic chemicals.