OU Libraries Resources
Recommended Databases
The databases listed below are great starting points for most research topics! You can access them from this research guide, or you can save them to your My Library page on the OU Libraries' website.
- Academic Search Complete
Comprehensive, multidisciplinary database covering social sciences, humanities, education, physical and life sciences, and ethnic studies with access to more than 7,000 peer reviewed journals and over 75,000 videos from the Associated Press. - CQ Researcher
Provides CQ Researcher reports that explore a single "hot" issue in the news each week, including political, social, medical, international, educational, environmental, technological and economical issues. Full text available. - Discover Advanced Search
Discover searches across many of OU Libraries resources and platforms to find journal articles, books, ebooks, newspaper articles and more.
Recommended Research Guides
OU Libraries Research Guides will help you find specialized databases as well has search tips and citation help.
- News Literacy
This research guide will help you evaluate news publications for their credibility and reliability. - Political Science
This research guide will help you find books, journal articles, and more from the discipline of Political Science.
Internet Resources
Recommended Internet Resources
- Reuters
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. - Fact Check
Fact Check monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Their goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
Evaluating Internet Resources
Using internet resources for your research can be tricky because of the amount of information available, so careful evaluation is needed. Before you begin using the internet for your research, think about your information need. If you put your information need into the context of your research assignment, then this will help you understand what types of sources you need to find.
Use these tips to help you evaluate internet sources for credibility:
- Look to see if an author and/or publication date is listed.
- Look to see if an editor, an editorial statement, or a submission guideline is listed.
- Look for author affiliations.
- Watch out for biased opinion statements.
Evaluating Internet Resources Handout
- SIFT Source Analysis Handout
This handout will help you sort truth from fiction when analyzing a source.
