Identify Keywords
Keywords are the main ideas or concepts of your topic question. Keep a list of these words because you will use them when searching for information on your topic. You will also want to come up with related terms in order to expand your searching.
Example topic question: What is involved in the removal of a tattoo?
Brainstorm some keywords. What do you want to know about your topic? motivation/reasons for removal, factors affecting removal, procedure/process/method of removal, cost, time, medication, risks/complications, recovery process, success rate.
Background Information
Search for encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, and more. Great for background material!
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window Credo Reference is a general knowledge database providing articles, images, charts, maps and other materials on thousands of topics. With 750+ searchable, full-text titles, Credo Reference places particular emphasis on subject encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and reference handbooks. Also included are more than 1,100 short reference videos, more than 475,000 high-resolution art images, photographs, and maps across all subject areas.
Search for Articles - General
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window Academic Search Complete is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. Indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals and more than 13,200 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings. The database features PDF content going back as far as 1887, with the majority of full text titles in native (searchable) PDF format. Searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,400 journals.
- MasterFILE Premier This link opens in a new window MasterFILE Premier provides full text for magazines, reference books, and primary source documents and an Image Collection with photos, maps & flags. MasterFILE Premier provides full text for over 1,800 general interest, business, consumer health, general science, and multicultural periodicals. In addition, this database offers indexing and abstracts for over 2,500 periodicals.
- EBSCO eBooks Academic Subscription Collection This link opens in a new window Access a cross-searchable, multidisciplinary library of over 210,000 high-quality, unlimited-user e-books from leading university presses and academic publishers such as Cambridge University Press, De Gruyter, Elsevier, Harvard University Press, John Wiley & Sons, Oxford University Press, Sage Publications, State University of New York Press, Taylor & Francis, and University of California Press. These ebooks cover a large section of academic subjects and new titles are added the collection continuously.
Search for Articles - Newspapers
- U.S. Major Dailies This link opens in a new window U.S. Major Dailies provides access to the five most respected U.S. national and regional newspapers: The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal. Search all of these newspaper titles conveniently in one search portal.
- Newspaper Source Plus This link opens in a new window Provides cover-to-cover full text for 45 U.S. & international newspapers. The database also contains selective full text for 389 regional (U.S.) newspapers, including the New Haven Register and New London Day. It includes newswires, news magazines, television and radio transcripts, news video clips, and more. It is updated daily with the most recent news. Wire sources include the Associated Press (AP), CNN Wire, PR Wire, UPI (United Press International), and Xinhua (China). Television and radio news transcript sources include ABC News (United States), ABC (Australia), CBC (Canada), CBS News, CNBC, CNN, CNN International, FOX News, MSNBC, NPR, and PBS.
- Hartford Courant (1992-current) This link opens in a new window Daily newspaper from Hartford, Connecticut. Coverage: 1992 - current. The Hartford Courant is the largest daily newspaper in Connecticut. Founded in 1764, it also is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States.
- New York Times (1985-present) This link opens in a new window This ProQuest version of full-text articles from The New York Times newspaper (Coverage Dates: 1985 to Present) includes local, regional, national, and international news coverage, including archived articles. Alternately, if you are looking for access to The New York Times Online Edition, please create a free library account at https://library.ctstate.edu/nytimes
- New York Times Online Edition This link opens in a new window Requires creation of free account using campus email address. Use your free account to access popular features, such as Today's Paper, Currently Trending, Wirecutter, The Athletic, Games including The Crossword, Cooking, Recipes, The Learning Network, Opinion, Politics, The Daily (podcast), New York Times Video and TimesMachine, which provides page scans of every issue of The New York Times published between 1851 and 2002 in browsing and searching formats.
- Wall Street Journal (1984-present) This link opens in a new window This ProQuest version of full-text articles from The Wall Street Journal newspaper (Coverage Dates: 1984 to Present) includes local, regional, national, and international news coverage, including archived articles. Alternately, if you are looking for access to The Wall Street Journal Online Edition, please create a free library account at The Wall Street Journal Online Edition. The Wall Street Journal is an American business and economic-focused international daily newspaper based in New York City. The Journal is published six days a week.
- Wall Street Journal Online Edition This link opens in a new window The Wall Street Journal, a national daily newspaper publishing news, information, commentary, and analysis with an emphasis on business and financial news. This online version includes access to Barron's Magazine, MarketWatch and the WSJ puzzles and games. It includes coverage of U.S. and world news, education, politics, technology, real estate, sports, health, and the arts. Requires creation of free account using campus email address.
