ENGL102: Writing for a Liberal Education

Contains reports with background infromation on current social issues.  This is a great place to go if you're looking for a topic to research or if you want an overview of a specific issue.

This is a great database to use to begin finding articles related to your topic.  It covers a wide range of subjects.

Be sure to click BOTH the 'Scholarly (Peer-reviewed) Journals' checkbox and the 'References Available' checkbox to find scholarly articles.  Remember to use the Find It button to check for the full-text of an article.

When searching library databases, be sure to only search the key words/phrases in your topic, not a sentence.  Use AND to separate the main concepts in your topic. (i.e. 'alcohol AND undergraduates' not 'the effects of drinking on college students')

You can use WorldCat TU to find a lot of different types of resources, but it is best for finding books.  It will find items that we have here at Towson, as well as books available at other University System of Maryland (USMAI) libraries, and books from all over the world.  The books available at Towson will show up first in your search results.

After searching, be sure to use the filters on the left side to refine your search by topic, date, or format (i.e. books, articles, etc.).

Get the call number and location information for the item in order to find it in the Library.  For books owned by USMAI libraries, use the 'Request Item' button to get it.

Use this resource to search the TU collection of books and reference sources. 

Search tips:

• Use AND to link together the main concepts in your search (e.g. college AND academic achievement)
• Use OR to search for synonyms or related terms (e.g. university or college)
• When searching for books, think broadly about the topic.

This database contains over 38,000 e-books covering a wide range of subject areas.  You can do more specific searches in here than in the library catalog because the database is searching the full-text of the book, not just information like the title and author.

Look up either the title of a work or an author to find literary analysis, biographical information, and reviews of the author and his/her works. Most materials are available in full-text.

This database indexes both journals and book chapters covering topics in literature.  You will need to use the Find It button to get full-text access to some of these materials.  Most items can be requested through Interlibrary Loan if the library does not have access to them.

LexisNexis contains full-text articles from newspapers all over the world.  Newspapers are a great way to find current events and stories related to a particular topic.  If you're researching a topic related to higher education, you can limit your search to university newspapers, which can often give an interesting perspective on major issues in higher education.

To search, think of how a newspaper would describe a topic and try to match that language in your search terms.  For instance, 'drinking AND college' might be a better search in LexisNexis than 'alcohol AND higher education'.

Use this search engine to find high quality resources on the web.

Current photos and a selection of pictures from The Associated Press library. This database features photographs of historical figures, political leaders, sports greats, and celebrities, and also includes images from significant news and events of the 20th century, such as World War II, civil rights, the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, and space exploration.