Where do I start?
Exploring your topic is an exciting, yet potentially daunting phase in the research process. This is the phase in which you want to understand the basics about your general topic, and explore related (or more specific) ideas to find something that really piques your interest. Many resource types can be used to explore your topic. Encyclopedias are very popular in this phase of research. General Books (like textbooks and handbooks) or articles (particularly popular and or news articles) are also good options. Detailed publications like technical reports and peer-reviewed publications are likely to be difficult to understand at this point in the research process. See below for a list of options that you can explore.
Open Web Sources
This is the phase of research where leaning heavily on resources from the open web is a viable, and potentially extremely effective strategy. Here are a few particularly noteworthy resources for exploring your topics.
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Computing Ethics Narratives"All modules are based on a set of narratives and associated activities that provide students with opportunities to explore the ethical questions and impact around an existing or emerging technology from the perspective of future creators of technological innovations. Each CEN module is based on a set of student learning outcomes designed to help students develop an ‘ethical sensibility’ around their role in the creation and use of technologies that have a potential for large scale societal impact."
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MIT Case Studies in Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing"The MIT Case Studies in Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC) aims to advance new efforts within and beyond the Schwarzman College of Computing. The specially commissioned and peer-reviewed cases are brief and intended to be effective for undergraduate instruction across a range of classes and fields of study, and may also be of interest for computing professionals, policy specialists, and general readers."
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Markkula Center for Applied Ethics in Santa Clara University"he Markkula Center for Applied Ethics has been the leader in applied ethics since 1986. Our comprehensive approach to enlightening people and organizations through materials offered on our website, customized engagements with organizations, and our commitment to Santa Clara University students to be trained in applied ethics has continued to increase our impact. Our Framework for Ethical Decision-Making is recognized by the people and organizations that reach out to the Center for resources as a clear and helpful process to make better decisions."
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ComputingCases.org"Computingcases.org is divided into two primary components; case materials and general tools. The case material section contains all the historical cases, their supporting analyses and documents, and the classroom exercises. The general tools section contains all the remaining items from the list above, including essays about teaching guides to computing ethics curricula, and an index of the exercises."
Encyclopedias & Handbooks
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Oxford ReferenceContains the texts of more than 100 reference titles published by Oxford University Press.
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Sage KnowledgeA database of reference books published by SAGE covering the social sciences and education, including such areas as African American studies, aging & gerontology, anthropology, business and management, communication and media studies, counseling and psychotherapy, criminology and criminal justice, economics, education, environment, family studies, gender & sexuality studies, geography, health and social welfare, history, politics and international relations, psychology, research methods and evaluation, science, philosophy, and theology, social issues, social work and social policy, and sociology, and urban studies and planning.
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Oxford Handbooks Online: Scholarly Research ReviewsThe complete texts of the Oxford handbooks in Archaeology, Business and Management, Classical Studies, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Economics and Finance, History, Law, Linguistics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Religion online.
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Routledge Encyclopedia of PhilosophyOnline version of the Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy. Articles can be browsed alphabetically or by philosophical themes, philosophies, historical periods, and religions. Full text entries can be searched by keyword, contributor, or bibliography. Bibliographies. Frequently updated.
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KnovelKnovel provides access to reference materials in the fields of engineering and applied sciences. Subject areas covered include: chemistry and chemical engineering, plastics and rubbers, semiconductors, advanced materials, and safety, health and hygiene.
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Springer eBook CollectionFull text access in HTML and PDF formats to the the electronic versions of books published by Springer. Content is in 13 subject areas: Architecture and Design; Behavioral Science; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Business and Economics; Chemistry and Materials Science; Computer Science; Earth and Environmental Science; Engineering; Humanities, Social Sciences and Law; Mathematics and Statistics; Medicine; Physics and Astronomy; and, Professional Computing & Web Design.
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AccessScience from McGraw-HillFull access to over 8,500 articles, 115,000 dictionary terms, 15,000 illustrations and graphics, bibliographies containing more than 28,000 literature citations, and hundreds of Research Updates in all areas of science and technology updated daily. Also includes biographies of more than 2,000 well-known scientists from the Hutchinson Dictionary of Scientific Biography, the latest news in science and technology from Science News and ScienCentral videos, a science dictionary, and links to related websites.
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Access EngineeringLinks to hundreds of McGraw-Hill ebooks on 14 fields of engineering. Includes classics such as Perry's Chemical Engineering Handbook, Marks' Handbook of Mechanical Engineering.
Library Catalog
Looking for other books? Encyclopedias and handbooks merely scratch the surface on what's available. The Library Catalog is where you'll go to see a more complete collection of books that the library has on a topic.
What the Library Catalog contains:
Records for both print and online books, journals, newspapers, conference proceedings, sound recordings and scores, videos, archival collections, databases, maps, and more.
What the Library Catalog does not contain:
- Links to individual journal or newspaper articles. For general article searching, you can start your search at our Articles & Full-Text search.
- Material owned by other libraries and institutions. For locating and requesting this material use WorldCat.
Today's News and Recent News
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Access World NewsCoverage and format: Current, from roughly the mid-1980s on (start dates vary widely). Over 7,000 newspapers (50/50 international and U.S.) and newswires, including some web-only titles. Mainly plain text, but 100+ titles are now available in color PDFs.
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FactivaTo browse the last two weeks of the following news sources—every article, plain text (no graphics)—The New York Times, Wall Street Journal (U.S. edition), and Washington Post from the print editions. Articles in the online versions may not be available in Factiva! Use the Search/SearchBuilder menu to query the full database content. Access limited to 10 simultaneous users.
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Global NewsstreamAggregates all the ProQuest Newsstream databases in one searchable interface.
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New York Times Online/nytimes.comCornell undergraduates can sign in here for unlimited, free access to nytimes.com, funded by the Student Assembly.
Law School students, faculty, and staff have access funded by the Law Library.
New York Times articles can also be accessed online by all Cornell students, faculty and staff via the U.S. Major Dailies database provided by the library. -
Nexis UniOver 15,000 sources including newspapers, journals, wire services, newsletters, company reports and SEC filings, case law, government documents, transcripts of broadcasts, and selected reference works. Formerly LexisNexis Academic.
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Wall Street Journal Online/wsj.comAccess funded by the Library and the Johnson School.
Online website of the Wall Street Journal. Available free to all Cornell faculty, staff, and students. To set up free access, go to https://partner.wsj.com/partner/cornelluniversity and register. Select your account type from the drop-down menu, add a password, and agree to the Privacy Policy. Then click Create and you have access. All faculty, students, and staff at Cornell.
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ABI/InformABI/Inform, an extensive international business and management database, contains bibliographic citations, abstracts, and full text of articles appearing in professional publications, academic journals, and trade magazines published worldwide. ABI/Inform covers the areas of accounting, banking, computers, economics, engineering management, communications, finance, health care, human resources, insurance, international trends, law, management, marketing, public administration, real estate, taxation, transportation.