UTEP Library Research Guides: UNIV 1301- Villalobos: Essay Assignment- Find Sources (+ Library Activity #2)

About the Essay Assignment + How to Cite Sources

Always ask Dr. Villalobos for clarification on his instructions, take notes on extra info he provides on the assignment, and pay attention to Blackboard and your email in case he updates the instructions. These documents are current as of 9/16/2020.

Essay Assignment Instructions
Instructions from Dr. Villalobos.
Reference Rules
How to cite the sources you use for your Essay Assignment.

Library Activity #2

Library Activity #2
Download and complete this Word document to complete Library Activity #2. Follow the instructions given by Dr. Viallalobos to submit it in Blackboard. Ask your class Librarian,
Angela, if you have questions about completing the activity.

MinerQuest This link opens in a new window MinerQuest is the easiest way to search as many of the UTEP Library's databases + its catalog at once. Results will include articles of all types, books, e-books, government documents, streaming videos, and encyclopedia articles. A good all-purpose search tool.
https://utep.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01UTEP_INST:01UTEP
JSTOR This link opens in a new window Provides complete full-text access to an archive of back issues of selected scholarly journals from the following subscribed collections: Arts & Sciences (I - XI), Life Sciences, and Ireland. Subject coverage includes: African and African American Studies, anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art and art history, Asian Studies, biology, botany, British Studies, business, classical studies, economics, education, film studies, finance, folklore, geography, health sciences, history, Ireland, Jewish Studies, language and literature, Latin American Studies, law, linguistics, mathematics, Middle East Studies, music, paleontology, performing arts, philosophy, political science, psychology, public administration, religion, science, Slavic Studies, sociology, Women's Studies, statistics and zoology. Other types of publications indexed include monographs, pamphlets, images, and manuscripts.
https://www.jstor.org/action/showAdvancedSearch

ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT (WHEN SEARCHING)
READ THE ABSTRACT (NOT JUST THE TITLE)
CTRL+F TO FIND YOUR SEARCH TERMS OR IMPORTANT WORDS/NAMES IN THE ARTICLE

Find News Items

Find newspaper or magazine articles
Qualities of good news sources

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Text-based news items-- international, national, and local.
**must use GlobalProtect VPN to access when off campus**
http://www.nexisuni.com
Newspaper Source Plus (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Find articles from international, national, and regional newspapers.
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&custid=s4252121&profile=ehost&defaultdb=n5h&groupid=main

Get full text access to specific newspapers or magazines-- search by title at the Library's home page.

What Makes a Trustworthy News Source?
from the book Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers. Nice and concise.
Allsides
an interactive news and educational site with a bias rating system intended to help news consumers see and understand different perspectives.
Media Bias Fact Check
Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC News), founded in 2015, is an independent online media outlet dedicated to educating the public on media bias and deceptive news practices.

What makes a news source reliable?

Publication Reputation and/or Bias: publication or website is well-respected and provides factual, fair, and balanced reporting.
Relies on Facts: does not appeal to emotion but factual events and information that is readily available and verified.
Cites Sources: article provides (current) links or citations for sources used.
Not Unique: article provides information or ideas that can be confirmed by other reputable sources.

What makes a news source unreliable?

It can't be verified. Links or sources included do not lead to sources outside of the site's domain or do not relate to the topic of the article.
Appeals to emotion. Unreliable news plays on feelings to ensure you won't be skeptical of its contents.
No expert opinions or cited sources. Authors of articles aren't experts with credentials or journalists and expert are not consulted. You may not see an author's name at all.
It can't be found anywhere else. Look up the claim or idea in a known, reputable news source. If they're not reporting it, it's probably untrue.
Fake news comes from fake sites. Do you recognize the website address? If it looks weird or unfamiliar (like abcnews.com.co), it's probably unreliable or downright false.

Find Government Documents

Where to find them

GovInfo
The US Federal Government's site for searching and accessing digitized government documents.

Another way to search:

use site:.gov to make google only show results from government agencies

Tips and Tools From Your Librarian

Questions to ask yourself when conducting a CRAAP Test:

Dr. Villalobos provides an ASPSA References document to help you, and any instructions in that document should take precedence over what you find elsewhere. These extra resources are just to provide additional examples, which can be helpful.

ASPSA- References
Instructions from ASPSA on how to make those references at the end of the essay.
ASPSA- UNT Political Science
A short explainer document from the Political Science dept. at the University of North Texas.

Ballotpedia
Nonprofit site that provides "neutral, accurate, and verifiable information on government officials and the offices they hold, political issues and public policy, elections, candidates, and the influencers of politics." Info for federal, state, local politics/policies/political candidates.
Vote411
Enter an address to see candidate information for federal, state, and local office. (No account setup or email address required).