The Charlotte Observer!

Extra! Extra!  Atkins Library Now has the Full Digital Archive of the Charlotte Observer!

For the city of Charlotte and the surrounding areas, the Charlotte Observer holds its history through its stories, editorials, advertisements and so much more.  In the past, to mine this rich history, researches needed to visit the library and painstakingly search the microfilm but now Atkins Library has access and ownership of the entire Charlotte Observer Digital Archives from 1892-present.  

The digital archives are hosted on Newsbank’s Access World News platform, and can be searched across the entire span of the paper using keyword or targeted searching with the advanced search options.  The pages of the newspaper have been scanned and can be downloaded as a PDF so users can see the pages as they were originally published.  

We invite you take a trip into the past with the Charlotte Observer and rediscover the city where you live, work and learn!

CQ Researcher Online

Are you starting to work on a research paper on current events but having a hard time coming up with a topic?  Do you have a topic but are looking for a place to start you research, with an overview of your topic?  If so CQ Researcher might be a good place to start.

“CQ Researcher provides award winning in-depth coverage of the most important issues of the day. Our 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. Graphics, photos and short "sidebar" features round out the reports. Shorter "Hot Topics" articles provide a solid introduction to subjects most in demand by students.” (source)

Along with “Hot Topics” CQ Researcher provides other ways for you to browse their material including:

• Topic: Roughly 30 different topic categories
• Date: Reports going back to 1923 for over 90 years worth of content at your fingertips
• Issue Tracker: Relevant reports on similar topics, making it easy to follow key topics through time
• Pro/Con: Arguments typically written by leading experts, commissioned exclusively for CQ Researcher and organized by topic (source)

As the semester gears up, now is a great time to explore research topics or get in depth information on current events to discuss.  Explore CQ Researcher today!

TRIAL: TRAC - Terrorism Research & Analysis Consoritum

UNCC Atkins Library is current running a trial for the unlimited version of TRAC - Terrorism Research and Analysis Consoritum. 

Created by The Beacham Group, LLC, Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium (TRAC) is a uniquely comprehensive resource for the study of political violence of all kinds. In cooperation with a team of 2800 experts, TRAC gathers the best information for exploration of this topic by faculty, scholars, students, government and defense professionals, as well as the general public.

TRAC Resources Include:

• Core analyses of 3,800 groups that have been known to aid and abet political violence or terrorist organizations.  One of the world’s largest databases of terrorist groups, their leaders, locations, and affiliations, TRAC includes hate/racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, lone wolves such as Timothy McVeigh, groups such as al-Qaeda and government counterterrorism campaigns. Each profile includes (when known) the group’s tactics, targets, ideology, associated groups, leaders, theater of operation, links to other resources, and links to TRAC’s analyses. Images are included with the profile often feature the group’s flag or logo; its founder or leader; incidents and events associated with the group (plus the flag of the location where the event occurred; flag of the country where the group operates; and an image that visually the group’s activities. 

• Original, commissioned analyses of seminal terrorism topics. These in-depth essays cover important terrorism issues such as Gender and Terrorism, Quranic Understandings of Violent Jihad to Vulnerable Cities, and Urban Terrorism

• Profiles of vulnerable regions and cities mostly likely to attract terrorist incidents. This includes links to the Failed States Index and TRAC’s profile of threatened countries.
• Live intelligence repository: TRAC provides a publishing center for research of any length produced by its members. Plus, contributors, reporters and consortium members can post stories and have them immediately disbursed throughout the network
• Chatter control: TRAC continuously monitors important news and analysis sources and posts feeds to the site as events unfold
• Hot links that quickly navigate between concepts within articles, news feeds, and outside resources
• Access to political violence experts worldwide
• And hundreds of internet links to think tanks; government agencies; universities, community colleges and police academies offering courses in terrorism, criminal justice, and homeland security; government and private research centers.

 Please review this resource and leave any feedback in the comments section.  Per library policy this resource can only be access on campus.  The trial runs through February 22, 2015.