Influential Supreme Court Cases
DeProspo, Chatham Molly
Ingredients for a Good Research Paper:
- Reference (for background and context)
- Books (for depth)
- Primary Sources (for evidence)
- Scholarly or Peer-Reviewed Articles (for analysis)
- Your own ORIGINAL writing, thought, and analysis (including a STRONG thesis). Clearly Stated Position or Angle (as appropriate) + Specific supporting arguments/statements = Thesis
Finding Original Text of Supreme Court Opinions
JSTOR
Use JSTOR to find scholarly journal articles (best for advanced students, AP students, and college-bound seniors). Password not required for on-campus access.
Use for: finding scholarly journal articles
eLibrary
Username: imgacademy
Password: ascenders
Use for: finding articles, news coverage, and reference
SIRS Knowledge Source/Issues Researcher
Username: imgacademy
Password: ascenders
Use for: finding articles, news coverage, and reference.
SIRS Government Reporter
Username: imgacademy
Password: ascenders
Use for: finding government documents and court cases (primary sources).
History Study Center
Username: imgacademy
Password: ascenders
Use for: historical resources, including articles, reference, maps, and primary sources.
EBSCOHost
Library barcode: 23950003158341
Pin: 1234
Use for: finding books, articles, reference, and news coverage.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Library barcode: 23950003158341
Pin: 1234
Use for: reference (encyclopedias)
Newsbank
Library barcode: 23950003158341
Pin: 1234
Use for: news coverage
Tips for Using Google Effectively
Quotation marks
Simply using quotation marks can reduce your Google search results by the millions! Enclosing two or more words in quotation marks changes your search from a keyword search to an exact phrase search. (Example: "
Gregg v. Georgia" instead of
Gregg v. Georgia).
Finding .edu, .gov, or .org sites
Many teachers do not allow students to use commercial websites for their research (indicated by a
.com web address). Quickly find
.edu, .gov, or
.org websites by adding the search term
site:gov,
site:edu, or
site:org to your search terms.