Every night I (a historian) dine with a writer, a teacher, and a philosopher. Needless to say, our family has dinnertime debates, not conversations. This year’s political atmosphere has taken our dinnertime debates up a notch. Luckily, LCLS has quite a number of resources for students who need to write an argumentative paper, voters who want to become more informed, and, of course, dinnertime debaters.
Gale’s “In Context” databases are prefect for LCLS patrons who enjoy backing their arguments with citations. Perhaps the most useful for debaters is Gale’s Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Users begin by searching for a hot button topic (ex: birth control, minimum wage, or marijuana). Opposing Viewpoints will then return with a topic’s definition, latest news, relevant statistics, related biographies, and professionally published perspectives which argue both the pros and cons of the selected topic.
- These databases can be accessed via the GoWyld.Net website.
- Simply select the letter “G” from the top menu.
- Select “Gale Databases”, and you’ll be presented with a long list of Gale Products at your fingertips.
And, of course, we have plenty of books to keep the discourse going. From classic philosophical works like Plato’s The Republic to the biographies of 2016’s presidential nominees we’ve got you covered!
~Kaci, Reference
P.S. – If you haven’t already heard it, the RadioLab Podcast just put out a fascinating episode about the world of competitive college debate. Check it out here!