3 Unbiased Election Websites to Recommend
http://www.5minlib.com/2016/11/3-unbiased-election-websites-to.html
Journals, magazines, and newspapers are important sources for up-to-date information in all disciplines, including politics and elections.
East Central College's print and online journal collection is diverse. It is often difficult to distinguish between the various levels of scholarship found in the collection.
Use this guide,http://eastcentral.libguides.com/scholarlyarticles and learn more about these five categories of periodicals:
Keeping these definitions in mind, and realize that none of the lines drawn between types of journals can ever be totally clear cut.
Databases provide access to journals, newspapers, magazines, reference books, images, music, statistics, videos and more. Majority of these resources are full-text. These resources are typically more up to date than books.
Databases are credible resources available to ECC students 24/7 from any internet device.
With over 2 dozen databases to choose from, it can be confusing as to where to start. Here are a few helpful tips:
You can access all of ECC Library's databases from home.
When you select a specific database (through the Library website) it will prompt you to enter:
Name (Jane Smith)
ECC ID # followed by EC (0123456ec)
The following is a partial list of journals commonly used by political researchers. You will be prompted for login to EBSCO subscription database.
Google Scholar was developed to assist with academic research. The video below provides excellent instruction on how to use this tool. Remember, you should use Google Scholar to complement academic databases -- not replace them!
Information about almost any subject is easy to find; however, not all information is good information. An essential part of academic research and writing is learning how to critically analyze and evaluate sources to eliminate old, incorrect, or irrelevant information. The CRAAP Test (current, relevant, accurate, authority, purpose) is a guide for analyzing your research sources, including websites, articles and books. Here is a link to an accessible PDF of this information.
By scoring each category on a scale from 1 to 10 (1=worst, 10=best possible), you can give each site a grade on a 50 point scale.
45-50 Excellent
40-44 Good
35-39 Average
30-34 Borderline
Below 30 Unacceptable
Current: The timeliness of the information
Relevant: The importance of the information for your needs
Authority: The source of the information.
Accurate: The reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the content.
Purpose: The reason the information exists
This information has been adapted from "Evaluating Information-Applying the CRAAP Test" by the staff at Meriam Library, California State University-Chico. The source material can be accessed here.
"Evaluating Information-Applying the CRAAP Test." 17 Sept. 2010. Meriam Lib., California State University-Chico. CSU-Chico ReSEARCH Station. Web. 2 July 2013.