Picking a Topic


Browse these sources to help narrow your topic and to develop the thesis statement for your paper.

Magazines and Newspapers:

Current magazines and newspapers provide you with interesting and timely topics for research papers. Magazines and journals for the current year are shelved alphabetically on the Reference side of the Library. Tilt the shelf up to find recent past issues.

Newspapers for the current day are kept on hanging racks to the left of the library entrance. Recent issues are kept behind the counter at the Circulation Desk before being moved to the Newspaper section near the back of the Library.

Congressional Quarterly Publications:

Congressional Quarterly, Inc. publishes summary reports and provides in-depth coverage of many current issues. Two publications that can be helpful when developing a topic are CQ Researcher and CQ Weekly. Current issues of both are found in the current periodical area. A bound set of CQ Researcher is shelved in the Reference Collection at H35 C672.

An index to CQ Researcher is available near the Reference Desk or online at http://www.cq.com/corp/show.do?page=products_cqweeklyindex

Subject Encyclopedias:

Subject encyclopedias provide an overview of a topic, as well as background information. They can also help you identify key concepts in your subject area. The Lakeland Library shelves most of its encyclopedias in the Reference Area.

Browse a list of encyclopedias by doing a Words search on "encyclopedia". To find encyclopedias on a specific subject, do a Words search combining the word "encyclopedia" with a word or phrase relating to your topic. EX: health AND encyclopedia

Book Series:

The following book series provide multiple viewpoints on current issues. Do a title search for any of the following titles to view a list of individual volumes in the series.

Taking Sides, Clashing Views on Controversial Issues