Use the resources on this page to get a sense of your problem within a wider context. One great approach as you look for secondary sources is to think about what kind of background experts on your problem would have. Would they be education scholars? Experts in public health or urban planning? Use this information to then consult the appropriate Research Guide, which were created by Gustavus librarians. If your experts are education scholars, for example, check out the Education research guide for more in-depth ways to find research on your topic.
These two sources are both excellent for getting overviews of topics and background information.
Provides reporting and analysis on issues in the news, with coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the economy. Each report includes an introductory overview, a background and chronology, an assessment of the current situation, a pro/con debate by representatives of opposing positions, and bibliographies of key sources.
These databases are a great place to start, in part because they contain articles from many disciplines. You should also think about the subject area that best fits your problem. Are you looking at a health-related problem? Or one set in the schools? Check out our Research Guides and select the subject area(s) that best fit. Browse the guides that are listed under your subject area to find additional places to search.
A good place to start research on most any subject. This multi-disciplinary database indexes nearly 8,050 publications and provides full text for nearly 4,600, including more than 3,900 peer-reviewed journals. Access is provided by eLibraryMN (ELM).
Major index to literature in education. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, it provides full citations and abstracts for journal articles, books, curricula, government documents, dissertations, and research reports. ERIC citations date from 1966 to the present, and full text is available for many research reports.
Try a search in the Gustavus Library catalog to see if we have any books about your problem, too. Don't shy away from books. Even though they are longer than articles, books can also contain very useful information - and if you use them right, can be even quicker to read than articles. Check out this post (and video!) from the Happy Arkansan on how to effectively skim an academic book. We also have a guide on how to find books in our library.
This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
