Information Power/Current Events Reference and Circulating Resources
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Current events resources are useful when writing papers and giving speeches on controversial or current issues.  They are a great place to start when selecting a topic.  They are also useful as an introduction and for building background information on a topic you have already selected.*

Reference Books
Almanac of American Politics   REF DESK JK271 .B343 2000
A biennial compilation of political data.  Covers state and national politics, providing election results, surveys of congressional districts, and ratings and descriptions of Senators and Representatives.

Congressional Quarterly Almanac         REF JK1 .C66 1998
An annual compilation of information from CQ Weekly Report   covering political and governmental activities of the nation.  Provides information on bills before Congress, Supreme Court decisions, political campaigns, texts of important speeches and addresses, and detailed listings of voting records by members of Congress.  Palomar's collection goes back to 1959.

The Europa Year Book                REF DESK JN1 .E85
An annual two volume reference work that can be consulted for detailed information on countries all over the world (not just Europe) and international organizations.  Includes lists of governmental officials and statistical surveys.

Periodicals
CQ Researcher (Congressional Quarterly Researcher)   REF H35 .E352
A great place to begin when searching for a topic or writing a paper or giving a speech on a current issue.  Located near the reference desk.  Each week this service publishes a twenty page plus report on a current topic of interest.   These reports are bound together at the end of each year.  Each report contains a summary of basic facts, graphs and statistics, and pro and con opinions.   Each issue ends with a bibliography for additional background information.

CQ Weekly Report        (located in periodical stacks on the second floor)
A periodical published by Congressional Quarterly to cover political and governmental activities of the nation.  Provides information on bills before Congress, Supreme Court decisions, political campaigns, texts of important speeches and addresses, and detailed listings of voting records by members of Congress.

Congressional Digest    (located in periodical stacks on the second floor)
A monthly periodical offering a forum for arguments, pro and con, on a single political issue.  Most opinions are written by members of Congress.

Online News    http://www.rcls.org/deskref/News/

Circulating Books
The library collects books in four different series which deal with current issues.  You can locate these books as series by typing in the name of the series on WebCat, the online catalog linked from the library homepage and clicking the series search button.

• 
  Current Controversies      The library currently has 46 titles in this series

• Information Plus                  The library currently has 27 titles in this series

• Opposing Viewpoints        The library currently has 168 titles in this series

• Reference Shelf                  The library currently has 137 titles in this series
  
  *adapted from John Henderson, Ithaca College Library

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