Murray State University Libraries

I. CURRENT AWARENESS

• Civic engagement means engagement with current events and information.
• World News Center – Links to hundreds of United States and international newspapers and news bureaus, organized geographically
• Internet sites:
• The library maintains a list of suggested internet sites for news and Current Events.
• New York Times College Edition. The New York Times maintains a special features section for educational institutions, containing information about the American Democracy Project, special features, online searching of past issues, e-mail alerts, and more. (Indexing of the New York Times is also available through Academic Search Premier and Newspaper Source -- see below).
• Three of the library’s databases are especially useful for reviewing several news publications online.
  • Facts.com - This service is from Reuters News Service and provides daily news, plus an archive of past news, important events by decade, and composite articles on major issues. The “Issues and Controversies” section is especially good.
  • Newspaper Source - A searchable database of articles from several hundred national and regional newspapers. The Paducah Sun, for example, is indexed here with full text articles.
  • Academic Search Premier - The most often used library database incorporates 20-30 years worth of articles from thousands of English language magazines and some newspapers. The NYTimes is indexed here, for example. The Library has every issue of the NYTimes ever published. Ask for help.
• Core Documents of U.S. Democracy - An electronic collection of current and historical United States government documents which define the American democracy.

II. SERVICE LEARNING

• Participation as a volunteer in community groups puts your civic concerns into action.
• If you want to learn more about how others have applied Service Learning in their area, search “service learning” as a topic at:
  • Academic Search Premier for general and national reports
  • ERIC for reports from educational institutions and teachers k-12 & university.
• Internet Sites
  • Corporation for National and Community Service (US gov’t)
  • National Service Learning Clearinghouse
  • International Partnership for Service Learning and Leadership (service learning and study abroad)

III. VOTING

• Participating in local and national elections is a significant privilege as an American citizen. Exercise it. Learn about it.
• Project Vote Smart – recommended as the best source of non-partisan information on all candidates, and general information on voting records, etc.
• Facts.com (watch for special issues on the election; search the issues)
• Academic Search Premier (search your candidate; search the issues)
• Newspaper Source (search the candidates AND a state to see what newspapers in your state report)

IV. STUDY THE ISSUES IN CLASS AND OUT

• Political science is not just a department at the university. It should be a life-long private study.

V. GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS

• Reading the materials published by your government is a vital way to become an informed citizen.
• While the Waterfield Library houses a large collection of government documents, and the Overby Law Library maintains current law and regulations, most government materials are published on the free internet.
• Use Google Advanced. Limit your “domain” to .gov for the federal government and search a topic.
• Use GPO Monthly Catalog on the library’s database page to search for items by topic. If the item is available free on the internet, a link will be provided under “Access.”
• Browse the suggested links at the library’s Government Information site.
• Ask a librarian for assistance on using such major publications / sites as
  • The Congressional Record (a daily publication of everything the Congress does) Print version available in Waterfield Library - Reference Room
  • The Statistical Abstract of the United States (statistics collected on every topic) Print version available in Waterfield Library - Reference Room
  • Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet
  • FirstGov (the US government’s home page)

This page contains links to sites related to the listed subjects. If you know of a link that you think should be added, or if you find a problem with one of the links, please send your suggestions to reference@murraystate.edu