Guides: Penguin Hall Research Guide: Getting Started

Reading Popular Press Articles

Articles printed in magazines and newspapers are meant for a general audience, so language used is often accessible and does not assume prior knowledge. Your job as the researcher is to read these articles and ask yourself critical questions about what you are reading in order to determine its quality and accuracy.

Where did this information come from? Who wrote it?
Why was this article written? For what purpose?
What questions does it invite you to consider about the topic?

Newspapers Available at Jenks

Boston Globe
Current issues of the Boston Globe are available in the 4th floor newspaper section of Jenks Library. Issues from 1997 to the present can also be viewed online. Older issues dating back as far as 1872 may be viewed using the Boston Globe Archives. Contact the circulation desk or email library@gordon.edu for access to the online archives.
New York Times
Current issues of the New York Times are available in the 4th floor newspaper section of Jenks Library. Issues from 1985 to the present can also be viewed online. Older issues dating back as far as 1851 may be viewed using the New York Times Archives. Contact the circulation desk or email library@gordon.edu for access to the online archives.
Wall Street Journal
Current issues of the Wall Street Journal are available in the 4th floor newspaper section of Jenks Library. Older issues (2 years of back issues kept) are available upon request.

Popular Magazines Available at Jenks

The Atlantic
Features articles for the general reader, reports & comments on recent events in history, humor, fiction, poetry, arts & leisure, & book reviews.
New Yorker
New Scientist
Publisher's Website: https://www.newscientist.com/
Science News
Time Magazine

Developing Keywords

When reading magazine and news articles, read with a critical eye knowing you are going to investigate this topic in more detail. Look for places that are unclear or you would like to explore further. As you read, highlight keywords within the article that describe this particular issue or question being raised.

The example article is from the Health section of The New York Times. This article features information about the latest work being done in immunotherapy to fight cancer.

Use articles like this one to help generate keywords that you can use to explore further.

Article citation: Grady, D. & Pollack, A. (2016, July 30). What is immunotherapy? The basics on these cancer treatments. The New York Times. Retrieved: https://nyti.ms/2m8ZVtw

Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

From the above article on Immunotherapy and its use to fight cancer, we might extract the following keywords:

immunotherapy
immune system
cancer
checkpoint inhibitors
killer T-cells
Food and Drug Administration
cell therapy

These keywords form a great starting place for how we might investigate the topic in more detail. For getting started, use background information such as encyclopedias and dictionaries to help define terms (such as the ones above) and read high-level information about your topic. Background research materials such as encyclopedias and dictionaries can also be good sources for additional information. Use there Reference List (at the end of the article) for suggestions on other resources you might search.

The following are online background resources available at Jenks Library. We have many more encyclopedias and dictionary available online and in print in the Reference Room, but these are a few to get you started!

Background Research
Credo Reference ONLINE	Oxford Reference Online ONLINE