LibGuides: Government: Current Events & Padlet

Assignment Description

Over the course of the semester, students will be required to track a topic of personal interest and importance related to American government and politics (GOVT 201) or American foreign policy (GOVT 202). Students will locate sources discussing, analyzing, debating, etc., this topic (videos, photographs, news articles, tweets, etc.) and post these sources to Padlet.

Locating Sources

There are a number of ways for you to locate resources related to your topic. The database and site links below can provide a starting point in your research. Do not feel limited to only using the sites listed below.

Google Search
The most used search engine on the internet. Keyword searching through Google will provide a variety of resources such as articles, social media posts, videos, and more.

Military and Government Collection This link opens in a new window
Covers current news pertaining to all branches of the military and government.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context This link opens in a new window
The premier online resource covering today’s hottest social issues, from capital punishment to immigration, to marijuana. This cross-curricular research tool supports science, social studies, current events, and language arts classes. Its informed, differing views present each side of an issue and help students develop information literacy, critical thinking skills, and the confidence to draw their own valid conclusions.

Pew Research Center: U.S. Politics & Policy
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research.
Political Blogs
Blogging.org's list of the top political blogs in the world today.

Political Science Complete This link opens in a new window
Extensive coverage of global political topics with a worldwide focus, reflecting the globalization of contemporary political discourse. Also provides a subject-specific thesaurus with more than 23,500 terms to provide subject searching guidance to researchers. Subject coverage includes comparative politics, humanitarian issues, international relations, law and legislation, non-governmental organizations, and political theory.

Top US Political News Sites
A Google search listing the most popular US political news sites on Google.
Top 50 US Politics Twitter Accounts
The Guardian's top 50 Twitter accounts for following the latest US election news and political analysis.The list includes accounts on all areas of the political spectrum, based on best use of Twitter through frequency, aggregation and interaction.

Evaluating Sources

The CRAAP Test is a way to evaluate (vet) your sources to make sure you are using the most accurate and up to date information for your research. The world is full of information, and it can overwhelm a researcher, using the CRAAP test to see if the information is rightly valuable is the mark of a good scholar.

Currency: the timeliness of the information

Relevance: the importance of the information for your needs

Authority: the source of the information

Accuracy: the reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the content, and

Purpose: the reason the information exists

For a more in-depth description of the CRAAP test, check out this libguide.

Padlet

Padlet is a sophisticated blogging tool that allows users to capture sources and post online for public consumption.

You will need to create a Padlet in order to post your sources along with their 3-5 sentence synthesis explaining and analyzing the information in the source. Once you have signed up and created your Padlet, you can click here to learn more about how to use the platform.