Newspapers & Magazines
After selecting your topic and reading some background information, I would suggest to look for articles from newspapers and magazines to find out what various news organizations have written about refugee resettlement in general, or a specific group of people. We have national-level sources, as well as regional newspapers. If you are interested in what is being reported in other countries, try the International Newsstream.
- Traditional Weekly News Magazines (EBSCOhost)Search Time, Newsweek, US News & World Report, and Macleans (Canadian).
Leave the top box as it is, and type in your search terms in the other boxes. - New York Times (ProQuest)Search just the New York Times for newspaper articles. Solid international coverage.
- The GuardianDefaults to the US edition of this British left-leaning newspaper. Can change editions on the upper right to the UK, Australia, International, etc., if need be.
- Spokesman Review (ProQuest)Search just Spokane's newspaper the Spokesman Review for local news articles
- Opinion Magazines (EBSCOhost)Search 18 magazines that either somewhat or definitely have political or religious leanings. If it isn't obvious from the title or the tone of the article, you can always google the title of the magazine and see what it says about itself, and what Wikipedia and other websites say about it.
- Google News
This link opens in a new window
Google's subset for finding news articles. Great for breaking news and seeing articles from a variety of news sources from around the world, but you will sometimes run into paywalls.
This is a great method for finding local news, because Google News will give you results from the Spokesman Review, along with the local tv news channels.
Evaluating News Organizations
How can you find out the reputation of the magazine, newspaper, or organization that published the information? Google the name to see what others are saying. If it is a real news organization, there will be a Wikipedia entry on it.
- Note: The ones in the library databases are traditional news organizations, or opinion magazines that have been around for quite some time.
A very useful tool for a thorough evaluation of over 6,000 news organizations and major think tanks is NewsGuard. It's a subscription service, but if you use the Microsoft Edge browser on your laptop or desktop, you can download the extension for free. See Adding NewsGuard to Web Searches for more information.
Scholarly Articles
Once you have a solid, general knowledge of your topic, you may have specific questions that only experts and researchers would have studied. Then you'll need to find scholarly journal articles. Below are suggested databases.
- Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowAcademic journals, magazines, periodicals, reports, books, and videos in all subjects. You'll need to use the limiters on the left side, such as Date and Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed Journals
- EWU Library Catalog This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Along with books, you can search for scholarly journal articles across virtually all of our online databases. Use the limiters on the left side, especially Peer-reviewed Journals and Subject Terms. - JSTOR This link opens in a new windowFull-text articles from thousands of scholarly journals. The default is to keyword search the full article, so you can be very specific in your keywords.
Adding NewsGuard to Web Searches
NewsGuard thoroughly evaluates over 8,000 online news sites. Use Microsoft Edge browser and download the extension for free. (Otherwise it's a subscription service, $4.95/month.) Use it on laptops. (NewsGuard claims it will work on the app version on mobile devices, but it isn't in the settings for Apple iOS.)
- Don't have Edge? Go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge.
Adding NewsGuard to Microsoft Edge
Within Microsoft Edge, click on Microsoft Edge in the toolbar, then Microsoft Edge Extensions. Search newsguard and click to add it.
When you click the Get button, it prompts you to create an account in NewsGuard. Click the Sign In button, top right corner, and either create an account or sign in with an existing Apple, Facebook, or Google account.
Once you've created a Newsguard account, it appears to want a credit card for the subscription. Ignore that, scroll down to the bottom, and it says Not ready yet? Maybe later. Click the Maybe later link, and it will add the extension.
Using NewsGuard
Once you have NewsGuard installed, you'll see a blue icon with 0-100% to the results list in Google, or at the top next to the URL when you are on a site that NewsGuard has evaluated. The bigger the percentage, the higher the credibility score. Hover over the icon to bring up a short evaluation of how well it follows journalistic standards. Click on See the full Nutrition Label to view a detailed analysis, with references. (You may also run into a gray icon for platforms like YouTube, or an orange icon for satirical sites like The Onion.)
