IssueWeb: A Guide and Sourcebook for Researching Controversial Issues on the Web

Finding reputable sources can be tricky when researching controversial topics, particularly when using the World Wide Web. This invaluable sourcebook helps you sift through the mountains of information in cyberspace and take full advantage of all the Web has to offer. Valuable instruction on researching hot topics, as well as techniques for evaluating Web information sources, is provided through 40 Issue Briefs. Each brief includes background on the topic, an outline of key controversies, suggested search terms for use in search engines and other databases, and lists of relevant websites divided into five categories—reference, law/legislation, news, data, and advocacy.

Appendices of think-tank and opinion magazine sites provide additional sources for extending research. Students can browse the Issue Briefs to find interesting research topics and use the sites listed in the guide to locate information for projects. Instructors teaching research skills, critical thinking, and source evaluation can use IssueWeb to direct their students to high quality information sources on the Web. Additionally, librarians working in school, public, and college libraries can use it as a reference source to assist their clientele. This tremendously useful sourcebook will prove valuable to high school students, undergraduates, instructors, and the librarians who serve them.

Provides instruction on techniques for researching controversial topics on the Web and evaluating Web information sources. This book will be useful to high school and undergraduate college students, their instructors, and the librarians who serve all of them.

School Library Journal

A veritable gold mine of more than 40 well-organized, well-presented issues briefs follows three remarkably clear, concise chapters on finding, evaluating, and incorporating Internet resources. Using experience gleaned from teaching students online to research the Web, the authors introduce topics such as browsing, narrowing, assessing needs, and selecting tools and terminology, e.g., Boolean and other symbologies. They do an excellent job of taking readers through steps needed to evaluate each resource's value for the project, and then to put it all together with helpful instructions for citations and plagiarism avoidance. Ninety percent of the book is devoted to issues briefs, organized alphabetically from abortion through world trade. Each one follows a consistent format beginning with a two-page summary and suggested sites for that topic. Sites are grouped into reference, news, law and legislation, data, and advocacy (pro and con). Appendixes include a listing of online opinion magazines, think tanks, and proprietary databases. This easy-to-use, easy-to-reference book is a godsend for those who are able to incorporate controversial issues into their research instruction. While sites, of course, are subject to change, most seem to have relative permanence so the book should retain relevance for some time to come.-Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

KAREN R. DIAZ is an Instruction Librarian at the Ohio State University Libraries, Columbus. She currently teaches online courses on research skills for college students. She has held positions as Web librarian, reference librarian, and online coordinator in academic libraries. Karen holds a Masters of Library Information Science from Louisiana State University. Other publications include articles and an edited book about online reference and research.

NANCY O'HANLON is currently an Instruction Librarian at the Ohio State University Libraries, Columbus, where she is responsible for developing and managing online information literacy programs. Nancy received an M.S. in Library Information Science from University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1983. In addition to holding various library positions at Ohio State, she was Associate Director of the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education, and has also worked as a freelance Web developer. She has published a variety of articles on instruction-related topics.