Research Resources

Do you want to see what has been reported in newspapers about your issue? Do you want to find opinion pieces about the issue?

Use Lexis-Nexis Academic. Go to the Polk Library Home Page, click on the drop down box "List of Library Search Tools," and click on Lexis-Nexis Academic.

Or you can search specific newspapers. For example:

• Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (this has the most environmental reporting in Wisconsin, especially investigative reporting).
• Wisconsin State Journal (Madison)
• Capital Times (a smaller, progressive newspaper in Madison)
• Green Bay Press-Gazette
• Oshkosh Northwestern
• Chicago Tribune
• Christian Science Monitor
• Los Angeles Times
• New York Times
• Washington Post
• Other news sources in the United States

Don't forget to consider international news sources (all in English)

• World Newspapers is a portral to newspapers from around the globe
• British news sources
• Chinese news sources
• French news sources
• German news sources
• Indian news sources
• Japanese news sources

Some of these sites have archives you can use to research news reports from previous months and years. For intance, check out the following news archives:

• Earthtimes.org
• Environment News Service
• Environment News Service (search engine)
• Planet Ark

These can be a goldmine of information, especially those that are science-based. Some cover a narrow range of issues; others are much broader. Here are just some, but see Web Resources for more:

• Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC)
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• World Resources Institute
• Worldwatch Institute

Do you want to find government documents (state, national, international) concerning your issue? What governmental agencies may have information?

Use the UWO library catalog search engine.

• Set limits by clicking "CLICK HERE to set limits" on the right side of the screen. Here you can limit a search to State and International Documents or U.S. Documents in the category of "Location." You can also limit it by "Place of Publication" (e.g. Wisconsin).
• After you set your limits, click the "Set Limits" button at the bottom. This will return you to the catalog search page, where you can search, by keyword, subject, title, author, etc.

Also consider websites of specific govermental agencies. They should have a search engine.

• The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has a search engine where you can search a topic such as "hazardous waste" (put quotes around the words).
• University of Wisconsin Extension may have helpful information.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture
• U.S. Department of Energy
• U.S. Department of Interior
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Department of Interior)
• U.S. Forest Service (Department of Agriculture)
• National Center for Environmental Health
• For other Federal agencies, see Web Resources webpage.

If your topic has any international dimension, be sure to look at the many, many webpages at the United Nations. In particular, become familiar with the United Nations Environmental Programme.

Looking for articles by scholars on your issue?

Use the search engines listed at the UWO library website, in the category "Know where you want to search?" This has a list of research engines. Particularly relevant are the following:

Academic Search Elite

• Highlighted on the library home page (also listed as “Academic Search”).
• Applied Science Full Text (also listed as Applied Science and Technology)
• Biological and Agricultural Index
• Business Full Text
• Environmental Science
• General Science Full Text
• Humanities Full Text
• Readers’ Guide Full Text
• Social Science Full Text
• These sources are found on the “List of Library Search Tools.” Once you are in one of these search engines, you can go to the top of the page and click on “Open Database Selection Area.” You will then be able to search more than one of these tools simultaneously (Academic Search is not included).

Do you want to find what books have been published that relate to your project?

1. Search the UWO Polk Library catalog, using keyword, subject, etc.
2. Go to the library website of a large university (e.g. University of Wisconsin Madison, University of California) or the Library of Congress . You can search for books using keyword, subject, etc.
3. Use World Cat. Go to library homepage. Check in the “List of Library Search Tools.” World Cat is the last entry. Bring that up and search there.
• If you find a book that looks particularly relevant, see if UWO's Polk Library has it. If they don't, see if the U.W. system does in Universal Borrowing. If they don't, you can order the book through Interlibrary Loan.

Do you need to find what various environmental organizations have said about a particular issue?

See the "Web Resources" webpage in this UWO ES website for a list of websites for state and national environmental organizations, news outlets, advocacy magazines, and online science journals.

Rachel's (Environmental Research Foundation)

Do you want to find additional links to environmental information and the positions and statements of corporations and political parties?

• Universities: Sometimes universities have helpful information. If your focus is Wisconsin, try the UW Milwaukee website.
• Corporations: Go to the websites of specific corporations relevant to your research. They probably give a perspective on the issues that differs from environmental organizations.
• Political parties: Political parties usually have divergent platforms and press releases on a variety of environmental issues. Go to their websites and find their platform and releases.
• Green Party of the U.S
• Democratic Party
• Republican Party
• Wisconsin Green Party

Want to look at journals in print for that are relevant to environmental issues? Look for the following journals in the UWO Polk Library.

• Business Strategy and the Environment
• Capitalism, Nature, Socialism
• Ecological Application
• Ecological Monographs
• Ecological Restoration
• Ecologist
• Ecology
• Environment
• Environment and Behavior
• Environmental Conservation
• Environmental Ethics
• Environmental Geology
• Environmental History
• Environmental Science and Technology
• Environmental Values
• Ethics, Place, and the Environment
• Greenpeace
• Journal of Animal Ecology
• Journal of Applied Ecology
• Journal of Ecology
• Journal of Environmental Education
• Journal of Environmental Health
• Journal of Wildlife Management
• Mother Jones
• Natural History
• Natural Resources
• Nature
• Onearth
• Population and Environment
• Restoration Ecology
• Water Environmental Research
• Worldviews