HS Debate - 2007

Debate Sites - Fall 2007

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its public health assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Web Sites | Organizations | Magazine/Newspaper/Document Databases | WHS Library Materials

DEBATE WEB SITES

Reference Sites | Law/Legislation Sites | Data Sites | Advocacy Sites

Reference Sites

Debatabase - http://www.debatabase.org/

Created for debaters worldwide, this site is an excellent place to get ideas for topics, a summary of the controversial nature of the issue and a list of the pro and con arguments for the topic. Also included are helpful books and Web sites.

National Issues.com - http://www.nationalissues.com

Issue briefs for a variety of public policy concerns. Gives the pros and cons of the argument and provides an overview article.

Planetdebate.com - (requires password) http://www.planetdebate.com

Public Agenda Online (Public Opinion and Public Policy) - http://www.publicagenda.org

For 21 broadly defined topics, this site gives extensive reports on public opinion research, whiel also placing this opinion in the context of public policy and defining the issues for the reader. Select the "Issues Guides" button.

Speak Out - http://www.speakout.com

An activism site that provides background information on issues grouped into fifteen broad catagories. Each category is further divided by questions or issues prompted by recent events. Each question or issue is represented with a perspective summary outlining the various points of view on a topic, links to related articles, and links to all types of advocacy organizations interested in the issue.

Law/Legislation Sites

FindLaw - http://www.findlaw.com

Browse FindLaw to locate federal and state laws and court cases. Topical directories (adoption, education, employment, healthcare, etc.) provide links to articles, legal forms, FAQs and related resources on these topics. Use the search feature to find resources within FindLaw, on other legal Web sites, or on government sites.

GovSpot - http://www.govspot.com

A government information portal for federal, state, and local information. This site will help you find appropriate sites for legislative information online as well as link to government news.

Thomas - the US Congress on the Internet - http://www.thomas.loc.gov

The definitive and official site for federal legislation. Search for proposed federal bills and public laws by keyword or by number. Recently considered initiatives are highlighted on the top level page. It is also possible to find how congressional members voted on the bills.

Data Sites

AllAcademic - http://www.allacademic.com/search/

Indexes over 200 freely availabel refereed journals and provides a browsable list of 350 academic journals listed by discipline or alphabetically. Also, included are scholarly works in the form of books, magazines, convention papers, working papers, scholarly projects, editorials, and book reviews. Be sure to keep your search statements short and simple (e.g., instead of "stem cell research," try "stem cells").

American FactFinder - http://factfinder.census.gov

Published by the US Census Bureau, this site helps you find population, housing, economic, and geographic data.

FedStats - http://www.fedstats.gov

Portal to data and government agencies that have data on all aspects of American life.

IPoll : Online Database of Public Opinion ; Roper Center for Public Opinion Research - http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/ipoll/html

Contains survey results on hundreds of thousands of questions done for academic, commercial, and media survey organizations. The full service requires a paid subscription, but users can log in for free access. Free access users can search the database and will receive up to ten sample answers out of the total number retrieved. These may or may not be the most current available.

LookSmart's Find Articles - http://www.findarticles.com

A searchable database of thousands of articles from hundreds of magazines and journals going baci to 1998.

Opinion-Pages - http://www.opinion-pages.org

Search opinion pages, editorials, and letters to the editor from over 600 newspapers around the world. The strength of this source is in finding local ideas. The interface is a little clunky and unprofessional looking, but there is no other tool like it!

Pew Research Center for People and the Press - http://people-press.org

The Center is an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics, and public policy issues. All survey results are available free of charge. Search for keywords in questionnaires or browse surveys by broad topic: business and economics, domestic and social policy, politics, foreign policy, global attitudes.

Polling Report - http://www.pollingreport.com

For truly timely topics this site provides extensive information on public opinion. However, for topics of general interest that might not be currently in the headlines, results are less predictable. This site is browsable only, not searchable as is IPoll.

Advocacy Sites

Moving Ideas : an electronic Policy Network - http://movingideas.org

Find news and information resources from more than 130 progressive or liberal-learning advocacy and policy research organizations. Browse sources by topic (criminal justice, education, gender, globalization, etc.) or by organization.

NIRA - World Directory of Think Tanks - http://www.nira.go.jp/ice/nwdtt/

Contains u-to-date information available on 320 think tanks from seventy-seven countries and regions. Detailed entries describe the organization's political and research focus, funding source, staff, and key publications. published in English by the National Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA), a Japanese organization.

Policy Experts - http://www.policyexperts.org/index.cfm

This is a searchable database of the conservative movement, presenting detailed information on over 300 public policy and advocacy organizations in the United States.

Web Active Directory - http://www.webactive.com/page/directory

An annotated, searchable directory of 1,250 progressive groups. Browse the list of broad topics to identify controversial issues to research or to find advocacy organizations involved in affecting change in that area.

Organizations

The following organization Web sites may be helpful for locating case information relating to health aid to foreign countries:

Magazine/Newspaper/Document Databases:

<>NewsBank Special Report - African Health Crisis
Access this database from anywhere using Empowered Desktop.

Custom Newspapers - A collection of web-based, full-text newspapers.

Access this database from anywhere using Empowered Desktop.

Expanded Academic ASAP (general/all topic areas)

Access this database from anywhere using Empowered Desktop.

InfoTrac OneFile - Access this database from anywhere using Empowered Desktop.

WilsonSelect - Access this database from anywhere using Empowered Desktop.

LegalTrac - Access this database from anywhere using Empowered Desktop.

Research Library (general and scholarly articles)

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GPO ACCESS (Government Publications Office) A myriad of government documents and information including books, pamphlets, and periodicals.

Access this database from anywhere using Empowered Desktop. TIP: For actual documents, search the title you found in GPO Access in either the K-State or KU library catalogs - full-text connections are often available from their catalogs.

Kansas Library Catalog - a catalog of books and other materials in libraries in Kansas - easily available via interlibrary loan.

WorldCat - A catalog of books and other materials in libraries worldwide.

Access this database from anywhere using Empowered Desktop.

Christian Science Monitor - http://www.csmonitor.com/

World Press Review - http://www.worldpress.org/

WHS Library Materials

Pro/con : International development, vol. 14 - 361.1 PRO