Locating problems - English: 76-108 - Writing about Public Problems

Relevant Research Databases

Generalized sources:

Gale Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
Articles in academic journals from all disciplines. Database Guide.
CORE Open Access Research Papers This link opens in a new window
Mission is to aggregate all open access research outputs from repositories and journals worldwide and make them available to the public. In this way CORE facilitates free unrestricted access to research for all.
General OneFile This link opens in a new window
Millions of news, magazine, and periodical articles across a wide range of general interest topics and academic disciplines.

Public & Policy Sources

Immigration Law & Policy in the U.S. This link opens in a new window
Compilation of the most important historical documents and legislation related to immigration in the United States as well as current hearings, debates and recent developments in immigration law. This first comprehensive database includes Board of Immigration Appeals, Precedent Decisions, legislative histories, law and policy titles, extradition titles, scholarly articles, an extensive bibliography, and other related works.
News, Policy & Politics Magazine Archive (feat. Newsweek)‎ (1918 - 2015) This link opens in a new window
Backfiles of 15 major magazines (including the Newsweek archive), spanning areas including current events, international relations, and public policy. Database Guide
Policy File Index This link opens in a new window
Access to reports and information produced by prominent policy institutes, "think tank" and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Database Guide
PolicyMap This link opens in a new window
A U.S. national data and mapping tool and analytics platform with multidisciplinary applications. Useful for social sciences, urban studies, real estate and housing analysis, community and economic development, public administration, public health, policy and political science, education, business, economics, statistics, and geography, among others. Includes thousands of U.S. data indicators for demographic and socioeconomic analysis, from a neighborhood census block group in many cases, up to a national level.
Public Administration Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Included bibliographic records covering essential areas related to public administration, including public administration theory, and other areas of key relevance. Contains more than 93,600 records.

Looking for Data?

Cross-National Time Series Data Archive This link opens in a new window
The Cross-National Time Series Data Archive was originally established to provide access to the longitudinal data from The Statesmen's Yearbook. The Archive now houses annual data from 200 countries dating back to 1815 on a range of topics related to social science research, including topics such as urbanization, transportation, economics and much more.
Sage Data (formerly DataPlanet) This link opens in a new window
Interdisciplinary datasets with mapping, graphing, and report-generating capability. Includes tons of datasets for business, industry, labor, energy, population, income, health, politics, and more.
Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Access data on social, behavioral, humanistic, and natural sciences including history, economics, government, finance, sociology, demography, education, law, natural resources, climate, religion, international migration, and trade - quantitative facts of American History. ca. 1790-present.
Insider Intelligence (formerly eMarketer) This link opens in a new window
New platform includes access to eMarketer content and Business Insider Intelligence content. eMarketer offers data and insights to the digital media consumer market. It focuses on understanding how consumers spend their time and money online and how marketers can best communicate with them via digital channels. Industries covered include automotive, consumer products, financial services, healthcare, telecom and media and entertainment.
Roper Center Public Opinion Archives (with iPOLL) This link opens in a new window
Archive of social sciences data. Data primarily from survey of public opinion. NOTE: Register for a free account with your CMU email address for full access to Roper iPoll content.

Specialized Sources

African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
More than 270 African American newspapers published in the 19th and 20th centuries.
African American Newspapers: The 19th Century This link opens in a new window
Full text of 7 major 19th century African American newspapers from 1827-1870.
Historical Newspapers: Pittsburgh Courier, 1911-1950 This link opens in a new window
"Once the country's most widely circulated black newspaper with a national circulation of almost 200,000." Read more about the Pittsburgh Courier. Note: Issues from 1913-1922 are not available.
Historical Newspapers: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1786-2003 This link opens in a new window
Includes articles from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 1786-2003. For other years, search the library catalog.
Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper Project This link opens in a new window
1895-present. Full text newspapers: The Jewish Criterion (1895-1962), The American Jewish Outlook (1934-1962), and The Jewish Chronicle (1962-Present).
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette This link opens in a new window
1993-present. Major daily newspaper of Pittsburgh, PA. For older issues, search the library catalog.

National Sources:

19th Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
500 19th century U.S. newspapers
CQ Press Library This link opens in a new window
Search or browse resources on the American government, current affairs, history, politics, public policy, and data analysis for the social sciences. Database Guide.
CQ Researcher plus Archive This link opens in a new window
1923-present. Unbiased research reports on timely topics. Each report provides an introduction, overview, background, current situation, outlook chronology, pro/con, bibliography, etc. Keyword search for additional reports also show links to other relevant reports. Database Guide.
Historical Newspapers: Chicago Defender (1910 - 1975) This link opens in a new window
One of the leading and most influential newspapers of the African American community, with about two thirds of its readership outside the Windy City. With an estimated readership of about 500,000, the newspaper was a major voice in African American history. Read more about the Chicago Defender
Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849 - current minus 24 years) This link opens in a new window
Major U. S. newspaper, known for investigative and public service journalism.
Historical Newspapers: New York Times (1851 - ca. current minus 3 years) This link opens in a new window
Historical access to major U.S. newspaper, often considered the "newspaper of record." For current issues, 1980-present, use this. Fully searchable digital images of issues from 2008 - current (with a 3-month embargo) are available here.
Historical Newspapers: Wall Street Journal (1890 - current minus 17 years) This link opens in a new window
Historical full text of U. S. business newspaper. For current issues, 1984-present, go here. Fully searchable full page images from 2008 - current (with a 3-month embargo). are here.
New York Times This link opens in a new window
Full text access to New York Times, 1980 - present. For historical access, go here. New York Times Online articles are here. Fully searchable full page images of issues from 2008 - current (with a 3-month embargo) are available here.
Wall Street Journal (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Articles in major US business newspaper,1984-present, Eastern edition. Historical issues (1851-2006) are here, and Wall Street Journal Online articles are here. Fully searchable full page images from 2008 - current (with a 3-month embargo) are here. Other editions are also available. Type wall street journal in the Publication Browse to see options.

International Sources:

17th-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers This link opens in a new window
The newspapers, pamphlets, and books gathered by the Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817) represent the largest and most comprehensive collection of early English news media, totaling almost 1200 titles.
18th Century Journals: A Portal to Newspapers and Periodicals, c1685-1835 This link opens in a new window
Contains unique and extremely rare eighteenth century periodicals between 1685 and 1835. Subjects include class and social structure, domestic and foreign affairs, colonialism & empire, literature, drama, theater, music, economics, the industrial revolution, slavery, and much more.
19th Century British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Full runs of 48 newspapers specially selected by the British Library to best represent nineteenth century Britain. This new collection includes national and regional newspapers, as well as those from both established country or university towns and the new industrial powerhouses of the manufacturing Midlands, as well as Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Special attention was paid to include newspapers that helped lead particular political or social movements such as Reform, Chartism, and Home Rule. The penny papers aimed at the working and clerical classes are also present in the collection.

ABYZ Newslink
A great source for international news and media sources.

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
An interdisciplinary, international, full-text database of over 18,000 sources including newspapers, journals, wire services, newsletters, company reports and SEC filings, case law, government documents, transcripts of broadcasts, and selected reference works.

Locating Case Studies

A general search strategy:

Finding case studies and other primary documents can be tricky, particularly from private businesses or companies. Often you will need to contact the source directly to ask if they will share their case study.

That said, there are several places you can look and search strategies to follow:

Build a vocabulary list to use in your search: You'll want to use the professional terms and avoid abbreviations.
- For example, don't search for DEI but Diversity Equity and Inclusion.
- Try searching for the information in different ways: for example, Cultural Sensitivity, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Diversity, etc.
Look at the result records and note the subjects used to describe the information you locate. These are called Subject Headings, Index Terms, Descriptors, etc. These terms are often academic or professional and can help you speak the language of the profession.
Combine your terms with phrases that describe as much as you know about the information you are seeking. For example, search for Case Study AND Diversity AND Carnegie Mellon University
If you don't succeed, and this is important, consider a broader scope (your search might be too narrow). For example, the search above can be revised as "Case Study" AND Diversity AND Universities. You can also use truncation symbols like an asterisk * to search for multiple spellings. For example, Case Stud* AND Diversity AND Universities will find Case Study and Case Studies

Try finding the information in the databases suggested in this guide.

English: 76-108 - Writing about Public Problems: Locating problems

Where to look for public problems:

Relevant Research Databases

Specialized Sources

Locating Case Studies

Effective Search Strategies

15 Ways to seach Google