Political Science & Law Research Guide: American Government Research Paper (101-75)

Examine some aspect of the Federal Government and explain how its function and mission has changed due to the events of 9/11.

Evaluate the success of this agency in its new mission.

Assignment 1a (Part One)

• Choose a topic
• Start to gather information from reputable sources
• Post the topic in Blackboard

Assignment 1b (Part Two)

• Create a topic outline
• Create a Works Cited list in MLA format
• Submit these in Blackboard

Assignment 1c (Part Three)

• Create a draft of the body of the report
• Proofread & correct
• Edit
• Submit through Turnitin in Blackboard

Websites that end in .gov are federal government websites and are considered credible sources.

The primary focus of this database is to provide information from various sources on major issues of the day. 

Articles on many of the topics for this assignment can be found in this product plus reference sources, video, audio, etc.

It is a great tool for choosing a topic.

The official subject heading for 9/11 is:
September 11 terrorist attacks, 2001

• A search on 9/11 will bring up items with that information in the title or description ONLY
• To find EVERYTHING, use the subject heading language
• Do not search with acronyms or abbreviations--spell out the words

Other useful subject headings:

Use combinations of these words when searching the catalog or research databases--subject headings are always good search terms

Construct your searches using the word AND between terms--this narrows your search to include both concepts.

Example:  terrorism and privacy

Use the Advanced Search option which includes more opportunities for limiting the search plus several search windows with AND between the the windows

• War on Terrorism
• terrorism--United States--prevention
• terrorism--prevention
• United States--foreign relations--Middle East
• Middle East--foreign relations--United States
• international relations
• intelligence service
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (NOT FBI)
• Central Intelligence Agency (NOT CIA)
• National Security Agency (NOT NSA)
• military intelligence
• United States. Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001
• freedom of religion
• Islamic fundamentalism
• terrorism--religious aspects
• Muslims
• unlawful combatants
• counterinsurgency
• airports--security measures
• airline passenger security screening
• hijacking of aircraft--prevention
• commercial aeronautics--security measures
• aeronautics--safety measures
• air pilots
• firearms
• airplane cockpits
• sky marshals (NOT air marshals)
• civil rights
• human rights
• electronic surveillance
• wiretapping
• privacy
• national security
• emergency management
• immigrants
• immigration
• Islamic fundamentalism
• terrorism--religious aspects
• Muslims
• unlawful combatants
• counterinsurgency

For additional subject headings, see also the Homeland Security page on the Criminal Justice Research Guide.

Use the Find Books tab above to search the catalog for books.

Use the suggested search terms in the middle column to construct searches.

Broaden the search to All Formats to find books on listed topics in other local libraries, including the Hoover Library at McDaniel College. 

Use the Request button to get those books delivered to the local library of your choice.

Use the Find Articles tab above to find articles in research databases.

Use the suggested search terms in the middle column to construct searches.

The best databases for these topics are:

• Academic Search Premier
• Use the search tips under Help in the database to learn how to search efficiently in EBSCOhost databases
• Military & Government Collection (another EBSCOhost database)
• Current Issues databases
• Newspaper databases

Use the Encyclopedia of Associations to find organizations by subject.

To use Google to find organizations, enter a search term and site:org.

Use Reference Books to get background information on a topic, identify good search terms, and find other resources.