Step by Step with Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center is a good source for book excerpts, newspaper and magazine articles, webpages, and radio transcripts on controversial and newsworthy topics. It lets you search it in a variety of ways. This handout goes over several search methods.
- Before you touch the keyboard, think carefully about your topic. Most topics for college level papers have two main ideas in them. If your topic does not have two ideas, then you may want to narrow it down. A good example of a paper topic is the health effects of using a cell phone.
- The main ideas in this topic are cell phones and health. You will need to keep both these ideas in mind as you search. Also one of these ideas is far more specific and smaller than the other. In this case, cell phones is the more specific idea.
- To search Opposing Viewpoints via GALILEO
http://www.galileo.usg.edu,
click Databases A to Z. This is the gold tab near the top of GALILEO's front page.
Then click O or scroll down to Oposing Viewpoints.
- There are several ways to search Opposing Viewpoints:
The Topic List: Even if you don’t have a topic, you can search Opposing Viewpoints by clicking one of the topics from an extensive list presented in two columns on the right side of the screen. Note: many of these topics are too broad to make good papers.
Basic Search: In the box on the left side of the screen, type in the two ideas that make up your topic with an AND in between them. Also fill the circle next to Keyword. This improves search results.
The AND is not a word but a logical operator. This is what Opposing Viewpoints sees when you type in cell phones AND health. Your results are the overlap between the two circles.
Including the AND is very important. Without it, searches retrieve far fewer results.
Subject Guide: Click the Subject Guide link in the light blue stripe near the top of the window.
Type in the smaller and more specific idea that is part of your topic. The subject guide may suggest a new heading or a similar heading. It also offers a link to Subdivisions. Click on this link and select the choice that most resembles your topic.
- Opposing Viewpoints offers results sorted by type with each type under its own tab.
Type of Results (All are full text) Viewpoints Articles from Opposing Viewpoints reference books Magazines Magazine articles Academic Journals Articles from academic journals and high quality magazines News Newspaper articles Websites Quality websites selected by the staff of Opposing Viewpoints Multimedia Transcripts of radio and television programs - Opposing Viewpoints presents results twenty(20) at a time beneath each tab. You can move among them with the scroll bar and move between pages with the Previous and Next links or by inserting a page number in the square.
- Opposing Viewpoints also lists subject headings in a white strip on the left side of the page. If you see one that fits your topic, give it a try.
- To see an article, click on its blue title.
- To print an article, click on the print icon in the upper left corner of the window.
- To email an article, click on the email icon in the upper left corner of the window.
- To edit your existing search in Opposing Viewpoints or
start another one, click the link below the blue
rectangle that says Search Types in the upper left
corner of the window. This returns your search statement.
- To end a search, close your browser.