Find Background Information
- Wiley Encyclopedia of Life SciencesReference work with entries on major topics in life sciences.
- Oxford Reference OnlineSearch hundreds of e-books at once for introductory information on research topics. Oxford Reference also offers detailed searchable timelines.
Find Public Opinion
If you are looking for some data about public opinions on your topic, you can try these sources. These are some of the places that regularly conduct studies to measure public interest in topics.
- Angus Reid InstituteOut of Canada, the Angus Reid Institute is a not-for-profit organization that collects public opinion information about issues that impact Canada and the world.
- Gallup (free)Although Gallup has much more data from the United States, they do have a collection of data from their "Gallup World Poll."
- Pew Research CenterPew collects and makes freely available a wide assortment of data. For an idea of the global issues addressed, look at the datasets available under the Global tab.
Find Articles and Reports
- Academic Search UltimateThis is a multidisciplinary collection of articles from scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers and other sources.
Tip:
Need the PDF/full-text?
Use Article Linker to search for full-text across all databases. If the article isn't available, choose Request via ILLiad or use interlibrary loan to request a copy from another library.
- Center for Disease ControlSearch the CDC site for reports and statistics on a wide variety of topics, from vaccinations, antibiotic resistance, to personal genomics.
Some results link to copies of journal articles from the CDC repository.
Check out the data and statistics they offer as well. - Environmental Protection Agency"Learn the Issues" - environmental topics page.
"Laws and Regulations" - regulations by topic (acid rain, climate change, etc.) and sector (agriculture, transportation, electric utilities, etc.).
"Science and Technology" - data, reports, and detailed information on topics such as air quality, climate change, and water. - Food and Drug AdministrationSearch for information specific to a number of topics, including drugs, food, cosmetics, animals, vaccines, tobacco, medical devices, and radiation emitting devices.
Includes overviews plus links to additional information, links to other government agencies and in some cases, international agreements. - MedLinePlus Health TopicsThe National Library of Medicine maintains bibliographies of sources for over 950 health topics.
Topics include a summary, links to other resources, including other reliable websites, journal articles, and sometimes clinical trial information. - NASAInformation on research conducted in space and on earth.
Topics include the search for life and exoplanets, climate change, and air quality. - National Science Foundation (News)Search this site to see how NSF funding has declined over the past several years.
NSF is also a good source for information on a number of topics since they sponsor grants in many areas. - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered SpeciesLearn about current efforts to save endangered species.
An interactive map provides links to information about the endangered species, legislative status, biology, and links to other information. - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Invasive SpeciesInformation about current laws and programs aimed at curtailing invasive species.
Includes a listing of partnerships and grants that are available to combat invasive species. - U.S. Department of AgricultureInformation on a number of topics, including food, nutrition, animal health, energy, and environment and natural resources.
The search feature of the site searches all areas of the USDA site. For example, searching the terms, "consumption of sugar" retrieves a blog post, press release, information from a grant, and information from a project.
Find Your Representative
- Utah.govContact Your Government Official
Lists US Senators and Congressmen, and Utah State Representatives and Senators - Directory of RepresentativesEnter your zip code or scroll down to your state and look for your district to find your US Representative
