Using CQ Researcher
to explore current issues

Use this database to:

• Research controversial subjects
• Find in-depth articles for writing term papers or reports

About this database:

CQ Researcher publishes four 12,000 word articles per month on a variety of controversial topics. Each article presents asummary, overview, background, current situation, projections, charts or graphs, chronology, pro/con debate,bibliography and contact information for further research. The reports are notable for their solid content and editorial balance. Some recent subjects have been shock jocks, gun violence, fair trade labeling, urban schools and CEO pay.

Coverage is from 1991 to the present.

Searching the Database

At the CQ Researcher home page, type in the name of a topic into the Quick Search box. The resulting list is in order of relevance. The Score column indicates how relevant the article
is to your search terms. Click on the underlined title of the article to read it. Every report has the same organization. To jump to aparticular section (chronology, bibliography, ro/con, etc)
click on one of those headings at the top of the screen. The Advanced Search allows for some flexibility in the search. You may look for words in different parts of the article, limit the search to a specific date range or sort the results by date or alphabetically.

Searching Tips

• Use quotation marks to surround your search words to find that exact term.
• If you are creating a bibliography or list of sources, click on Cite Now for a proper citation in
any of four popular styles
• Related reports and related topics are easily accessible from the Issue Tracker box at the
beginning of each article.
• Printing and emailing commands are found in the upper right corner of every page of a report.
• Note that when you open a report, it opens in a new window. Your list of articles is always
available in a different window.
• Click on the author’s name for a brief biography.
• Don’t neglect the Special Focus section. Some of the more interesting and thought-provoking
ideas are explored there.
• Search Tips (available only from the Advanced Search page) describe how to create searches
using “and,” “not,” “or,” and other special search notati

Sample Searches

Question: Where can I find information on “living wages?”
Search procedure: At the home page, type Living Wages in the Quick Search box at the left of the screen. The first five results (in order of relevance) are Living Wage Movement, Minimum Wage, Child Poverty, Income Inequality and The Working Poor.

Question: Are computer games bad for kids? I’d like to see the arguments for and against.

Search procedure: At the home page type computer games in the search box. At the list of results, click on the first article, titled Video Games. In typical CQ fashion the entire article
examines both sides of the question. Click on Pro/Con for a short debate between experts.

Question: I need help finding a topic for a research paper.
Search procedure: Click on Browse by Topic for a list of 26 broad subject areas. Choose a subject area to see the specific issues covered. An alternate route is the Issue Tracker,
which lists several hundred issues. Again, select an issue to see the specific reports related that issue.

Question: I’m doing a report on MySpace and whether middle school kids should be allowed
there.
Search procedure: At the home page type in MySpace in the Quick Search box. The first (most relevant) result is an article called Cyber Socializing. Click on the article title to see
the article. A quick glance will show many references to “MySpace” highlighted in blue.

Similar Databases

Most of the information presented by CQ Researcher is neither unique nor difficult to find elsewhere. There are numerous news sources free on the Internet or in databases provided by the Library. What makes CQ so valuable is the journalistic quality, different viewpoints represented, leads to more information, and depth of the reports. For more current information, opinion pieces or scholarly articles try the following databases accessible through the Library.

CQ Global Researcher--Same format as CQ Researcher, on international issues.

Proquest--Select from a list of newspapers including the boston Globe, New York TImes, Wall Street Journal and a variety of Massachusetts newspapers.

General Reference Center—Articles from about 4000 magazines (1980- )

General BusinessFile, Health Reference Center—Academic, and Expanded Academic ASAP— Companion databases to General Reference Center providing access to more specialized
publications.

All this Databases are available from the Database page in the Reference Services secton of this website

Provided by elogicwebsolutions.com web development company.