Useful for College in the Schools students in WRIT 1301 getting started on the Trend Analysis assignment.
Set up your UMN account and DUO
Do you have your UMN email (also called Internet ID or x.500)?
Initiating or claiming your account will give you access to thousands of online journals, magazines, newspapers and ebooks at the University of Minnesota Libraries. Your teacher may need to provide information to complete this step. Ask them.
Setting up DUO
You also need to set up Duo Authentication to get access to things like your UMN email and to use many of the research tools on the UMN Library website. The IT Technology online help can answer questions on this.
Tip: If you are unable to initiate your account you can find scholarly articles with Academic Search Premier, find background information on your topic with Encyclopedia Britannica Academic Edition and find Pro/Con arguments on current issues with Points of View Reference Center.
Getting Started: Exploring a topic
These online sources can help you to choose and refine your topic. They will also provide you with the background information necessary for your research.
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Encyclopaedia Britannica Online This link opens in a new windowMajor encyclopedia with information on a wide range of subjects.
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CQ ResearcherCQ Researcher provides in-depth coverage of important issues of the day. Reports are written by experienced journalists, footnoted, and professionally fact-checked. Full-length articles include an overview, historical background, chronology, pro/con feature, plus resources for additional research. Shorter "Hot Topics" articles provide a solid introduction to subjects in demand.
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Opposing Viewpoints in ContextFind articles on current issues, including viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, magazine and newspaper articles.
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Gale In Context: High SchoolSearch newspapers, popular magazines and journal articles on popular topics. Search tool is useful for primarily for high school students or early undergraduates. Content is aligned to national, state, and Common Core State Standards. Includes help to identify topics.
Find Sources with Article Databases
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Academic Search PremierA great place to start your research on any topic, search multidisciplinary, scholarly research articles. This database provides access to scholarly and peer reviewed journals, popular magazines and other resources. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
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Ethnic NewsWatchEthnic NewsWatch is a current resource of full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press from 1990, providing researchers access to essential, often overlooked perspectives.
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MasterFile CompleteSearch magazines, with a small number of journals and newspapers, covering a broad range of disciplines and topics. Includes photos and multimedia.
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America: History and LifeAmerica: history and life provides historical coverage of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present with over 2,000 journals including all key English-language historical journals. Limited to 6 simultaneous users.
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Google Scholar (Setup connection to get to PDFs)Use Google Scholar to find articles from academic publishers, professional societies, research institutes, and scholarly repositories from colleges and universities. If you are using from off-campus access, change the "Library Settings" to University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Look for the "FindIt@U of M Twin Cities" links in your Google Scholar search results to access full text and PDFs. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
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JSTORFind full text articles in academic journals or books on the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. JSTOR provides articles from the journal's first issue. In some cases the most recent 2-5 years may not be available. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
Find Statistics and Public Opinion
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Statistical Insight This link opens in a new windowSearch statistical publications from US and state government agencies, international intergovernmental organizations, professional and trade organizations, business organizations, commercial publishers, independent research organizations, and universities.
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Data and Statistics about the U.S.Find data about the U.S., such as maps and population, demographic, and economic data.
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Polling the Nations This link opens in a new windowPolling the Nations is an online database of public opinion polls containing the full text of 700,000+ questions and responses, from 18,000+ surveys and 1,700+ polling organizations, conducted from 1986 through the present in the United States and more than 100 other countries around the world. Limited to 4 simultaneous users.
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iPoll (Roper Center for Public Opinion Research) This link opens in a new windowiPOLL is a collection of polling sources from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. It includes surveys from 150 polling organizations that include all major news outlets, Gallup polls, and other research institutions. Use these polls to compare public opinion from 1935-present on a range of issues.
Find Market/Consumer/Business Trends
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Mintel Market ResearchMintel reports provide market research on consumer products, services, and lifestyles to identify economic drivers, leading companies, market share, market size, trends, segmentation, and analysis of consumer attitudes and purchasing habits. Includes Mintel Trends to analyze consumer trends by sectors, demographics, themes and regions.
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Mintel TrendsMintel Trends provides strategic, evidence-backed insights on how today's consumer thinks, feels and acts. It analyzes changes in culture, society, brands and markets.
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MarketResearch.com AcademicMarket research reports on service industries, consumer goods,food and beverage, heavy industry, life sciences, technology and media.
Search and find newspapers and magazines
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Ethnic NewsWatchEthnic NewsWatch is a current resource of full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press from 1990, providing researchers access to essential, often overlooked perspectives.
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U.S. Newsstream This link opens in a new windowSearch the most recent premium U.S. news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format.
Guide for reading magazines, current news, commentary, and opinion
This guide is a selected collection of current journals and magazines of news, commentary, and opinion. Here is a sample of what is sometimes called 'Long form journalism" -- longer, in-depth articles written by journalists but usually about or with experts like researchers or professors. They are written with less jargon then scholarly journal articles and are great sources to consult as you learn more about a topic. They feature stories about current or controversial topics. You can "browse" and read current issues or search.
Tutorial: Creating an effective search strategy
After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Use meaningful keywords to find the best sources
- Apply search strategies like AND and OR to connect keywords
Library research guides for current issues and topics
Doing research about current topics can challenging because the facts and stories continue to evolve. They are also impacted by the long and complex issues and histories underlying all events.
The following guides might be helpful to you as you do research on your topic.
Maps and Mapping Data
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PolicyMap This link opens in a new windowWeb-based online data and mapping application that provides access to thousands of indicators related to demographics, housing, crime, mortgages, health, jobs and more. Data is available at all common geographies (address, block group, census tract, zip code, county, city, state, MSA) as well as unique geographies like school districts and political boundaries. Data comes from both public and proprietary sources.
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SimplyAnalytics This link opens in a new windowCreate custom maps and reports on SimplyAnalytics using extensive data on demographics, consumers, real estate, housing, employment, crime, health, and more. Data includes Nielsen Scarborough local insights and crosstabs, AGS Census, Claritas PRIZM consumer segment, MRI Simmons consumer survey data, consumer expenditures and buying power, as well as public data sources such as the US Census, American Community Survey, FBI uniform crime reports, NOAA climate data, and CDC health data.
Limited to 5 simultaneous users. "Sign in as a guest" if you do not wish to register for a free personal account. A personal account allows you to save your work.
Citing your sources (e.g. MLA, APA, etc.)
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Citation Managers (e.g. Zotero, EndNote Online, etc.)Citation managers are software packages used to create personalized databases of citation information and notes. They allow you to: import and organize citation information from article indexes and other sources; save links to pdfs and other documents; format citations for your papers and bibliographies using APA and many other styles; and include your own notes.
Many article databases (e.g. Academic Search Premier, Google Scholar) will create a citation for you. After you found the item, look for "cite" or "quotes." Here are examples:
In Google Scholar:
In Academic Search Premier:
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Chicago Manual of Style OnlineThis resource provides online access to the latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, which covers a variety of topics from manuscript preparation and publication to grammar, usage, and citation formating. The citation quick guide covers both the author-date and the notes and bibliography systems.
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Citation and research help (from Purdue OWL)Examples and instructions for how to cite many types of materials in MLA, APA, Chicago, and AMA styles.
Learn more about on annotated bibliographies
Annotated Bibliography from UW-Madison
An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources, each of which is followed by a brief note or “annotation.”
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How to write an annotated bibliographyLearn more about annotated bibliographies.
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Writing Evaluative Annotated BibliographiesThis chapter includes useful questions to guide you in writing annotations for an annotated bibliography.
Get help from the U Libraries - Online!
- Peer Research ConsultantsMake an online 30 minute appointment for one-on-one peer assistance with your research. Get help with researching your topic, finding sources, citing sources and more. Peer Research Consultants can also help you get started with faculty-sponsored research.
- Chat 24/7 online with the LibrariesAsk us anything! Chat with a librarian, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with any research or library questions.
- Meet with a librarianSchedule an online consultations for personalized research support primarily for University of Minnesota faculty, instructors, graduate and undergraduate students and staff.
Last Updated: Jul 8, 2025 10:26 AM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/WRIT/1301/CIS/Trend