Economy
The economy is on everyone’s mind, so here are a few links to get you started.
Understanding the Situation
- CQ Researcher [NYU Only]
Published weekly, this resource devotes each issue to a hot topic. A great backgrounding source for understanding our current economic situation and government response.
Banks
- BankTracker
This project provides financial information about banks based on extracted FDIC data. Allows you to search for banks that have received TARP money, and more. Created by the Investigative Writing Workshop at American University. - Beige Book – Current Economic Conditions by Federal Reserve District
These are published 8 times per year and provide a summary of economic conditions in each Federal Reserve District.
Statistics about the Economy
- Bureau of Economic Analysis: Department of Commerce
Provides timely economic data. - US Census Bureau: Economic Indicators
Provides latest economic indicators (statistics).
Religion
Getting Started
- Encyclopedia of Religion via Gale Virtual Reference Library
- NYU Libraries Religion Subject Guide
- Oxford Reference Online (click on Religion)
Statistics
- Association of Religion Data Archives
- Pew Forum on Religion and Life
- North American Jewish Databank
- Pluralism Project (Harvard University)
Presidential Election 2008
What is a specific state saying about a candidate?
- Search state sources in LexisNexis. Here’s how:
Go to Sources > Search for “<state name> news”; ex. “new york news” > you’ll see a file that comes up called New York News > Checkmark it > click OK > You’ll now be searching this category.
LexisNexis Tips for finding info on the Presidential Election
What issues are important to a state?
- Stateline.org
Includes state issues, blogs, and state speeches
Finding polling places
- Search Google for “board of elections” and <the state name>
Biographical Info
Questions to ask yourself
- How well-known is this person? If a person is well-known, s/he is more likely to have an entry in a reference book or standard source.
- What is the ethnicity of this person? There are many sources that provide bio info for individuals of a specific ethnicity.
- Is this person alive or dead?
- What field does this person work in(business, the arts, etc.)?
Basic Info
- Ancestry Library
Use this source to identify D.O.B., family members, and addresses of individuals. - QuickRef Biographical Sources
Click on the Biographies category and you’ll get a list of resources useful for finding biographical info. Note: People usually have to be somewhat important to be listed in these sources. - Subject-specific biographical sources
If the individual is associated with a specific field, you should try locating a subject encyclopedia. For example, the Grove Dictionary of Art would be a useful source if you were covering an artist. - International Who’s Who [NYU-Only]
brings together current and hard-to-find biographical information on almost 60,000 of the most gifted, famous and influential men and women in all fields - Who’s Who
Who’s Who publishes a variety of directories in different areas (Who’s Who in Advertising, Who’s Who in Science), etc. Some of these are available in print in Bobst Library. To find them search Bobcat for “who’s who.”
Finding Articles
- LexisNexis
- Factiva
- Proquest
To find an obituary, go to Advanced Search; select Document Type from the pulldown menu; click on “look up document types”; select Obituaries. - Subject-specific database
Can be useful if your person was well-known and/or a scholar in a certain field.
Generation Y
Statistics
- FedStats
- Statistical Universe [NYU-Only]
Search by keyword; includes statistics from government agencies, as well as associations. - Virtual Business Library [NYU-Only]
Provides links to marketing databases which may provide lifestyle statistics. - The Millennials :Americans born 1977 to 1994 [BOOK: 1st Floor Reference HQ796.M4797 2006]
Determining who may have already written about your topic
- LexisNexis [NYU-Only]
Finding experts and scholarly material
- Find an association
- Search a scholarly database to find an expert
- Find Databases By Subject
Examples:- PsycINFO[NYU-Only]
- SocIndex with Full Text[NYU-Only]
- Proquest[NYU-Only]
- Find Databases By Subject
- Try searching Google to see if there has been a conference on your topic. Conference speakers can be a useful source.
- Search to see if there are any experts at NYU
Other Resources
- USC Marshall Demographics Resources for Youth (includes Gen Y)
Links to freely available reports on Gen Y. - Ypulse.com
Marketing publication for Gen Y
Health and Medical Reporting
Keeping up/Generating ideas
- Scienceblogs.com
- eDrugSearch.com’s World’s Top Blogs on Health and Medicine
- Postgenomic.com
“keep up to date with hot papers”
Find Articles and Research Studies
- PubMed FREE!
“PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 18 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. PubMed includes links to full text articles and other related resources.” - PsycINFO
For scholarly psychology articles
Statistics
Real Estate
Zillow
Real estate info for the US
StreetEasy
Real estate info for New Jersey and New York.
WalkScore
Allows you to type in an address and get a “walkscore” (measures walkability of neighborhood). Includes a list of the most walkable neighborhoods in the US.
NYU Jack Brause Real Estate Library Research Guides
These are guides to resources for specific real estate topics. The Jack Brause Library is located at 11 West 42nd Street in Room 510; NYU students have access to this library.
Food Writing
Definitions and history of food and drink terms and culinary techniques
- Larousse Gastronomique [1st Floor Reference TX349 .M613]
- Oxford Companion to Food [1st Floor Reference TX349 .D38 1999]
- An A to Z of Food and Drink [NYU Only]
- Encyclopedia of Food and Culture [NYU Only]
- Cambridge World History of Food [NYU Only]
Finding Newspaper Articles
- Search the food section of newspapers; section search option is available under SHOW
- Search the blogs category to pick up food and New York-centric blog entries (Gothamist, etc.)
- Search New York Newspapers for local restaurant reviews and food articles.
Finding Magazine Articles
Tips:
- Only a few databases cover the popular magazines, such as Gourmet and Bon Appetit. If you need to find an article from a popular magazine (not a scholarly article), try the places recommended below.
- Some magazines, such Saveur, are not indexed by any database. You may have to rely on that magazine’s website to identify articles.
- NYU Libraries may not have extensive holdings for some of these magazines, and the full-text may not be available online. To get an article, it may be necessary to interlibrary loan or check to see if NYPL owns the magazine.
These are the databases that cover popular and/or food magazines:
- Readers Guide to Periodical Literature [NYU Only]
- Ebsco Masterfile Select [NYU Only]
- Proquest [NYU Only]
- Hospitality and Tourism Index [NYU Only]
Writing Guidelines
- Association of Food Journalists
Site includes a list of resources, including Critic Guidelines
Blogs
Finding Books
- For books, search BobCat
- Do a subject search (Phrase Search > enter official subject heading (below) > choose Subject (LCSH))
- Try searching for the following subject headings: cookery; food writing; cooks (for biographies)
Food and Cookery Collections
Finding Experts
The bad news: There is no central repository of experts.
Encyclopedia of Associations [NYU-Only]
Use this resource to identify organizations that deal with your topic.
NOTE: Sometimes individual associations will have their own databases of experts in the field.
ProfNet [Free; Registration Required]
Designed with journalists in mind, you can search this network of 25,000 experts.
Subject-Specific Article Databases [NYU-Only]
Search a subject-specific database to find out which academics are writing about your topic. Subject-specific databases such as PsycINFO are very scholarly in nature and contain articles by academic experts in a field.
Two subject-specific databases that are freely available to the public are:
- ERIC
This is *the* education database. Sponsored by the US Dept of Education, Institute for Education Sciences. - PubMed
Great for medical topics. A service of the US National Medical Library and the National Institutes of Health.
For Science and Medical Experts
- Authoratory.com
Find experts in the specific areas of life-sciences, including chemistry, biology and medicine. (Site pulls its data by analyzing articles and authors in PubMed.) Still under development. Read more about Authoratory
- Media Resource Service
A non-profit service that has served as a bridge between science and the media since 1980. Journalists can call or email and get help at no charge in locating expert sources of information on science and technology.
- American Men and Women of Science [NYU Only]
” biographical dictionary of the significant players in the physical, biological and related sciences”. Includes contact info.
Education Resources
Getting Started
- Take a look at NYU Libraries Education Research Guide.
On the Beat: Covering Education
Free online tutorial geared towards journalists; you must register with News University. Developed in partnership with the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media.Course Description from News U.:
“This course is designed to give journalism students and reporters new to the education beat a brief introduction to the most pressing issues facing the educational system today, along with tips on how to cover this beat.”
Finding Articles
- ERIC [NYU-Only]
The education database. A freely searchable version is available at www.eric.ed.gov
- Education Full Text [NYU-Only]
Finding Statistics
- NCES: National Center for Education Statistics
- Digest of Education Statistics
Provides a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school.
Education Blogs
- Favorite Education Blogs 2008
From Jay Mathews of The Washington Post.
