1. Find a good topic:

CQ Researcher  High quality reports made for Congress, printable full-text.  

Congressional Universe Click on "HOT BILLS AND TOPICS."

New Mexico News Plus Web Links to local news topics and related government information.

Some Suggested Hot Topics-- including some local to Las Cruces.

Some Paper Magazines and Journals at NMSU Library-- excellent for browsing.

Books on Hot Topics at NMSU Arguments pro and con on controversial issues.

Infodome (SDSU) Online directory of Internet resources, good for extended browsing.

2. Find library books:

Click on COMBINE KEYWORDS.

Go to the library catalog

Search for books on yourtopic.

If you have many results

you may want to sort by date

Note the call number and location.

Then ask for directions.

3. Find background information

Click on AUTHOR/TITLE/SUBJECT

Then set to

"REFERENCE-NON-CIRCULATING"

and choose

KEYWORD

We have some excellent reference resources available online

There are many more available on 1st floor Zuhl..

Click on SUBJECT GUIDE and enter a simple topic.

SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW SEARCH RESULTS.

If there are many articles, NARROW BY SUBDIVISION.

Browse for a promising category, and click to view articles.

The library has more than a hundred databases.

5. Find different views, & get up to date: 

Alternative Press  Articles from non-mainstream publications.

NY Times (in LexisNexis) Full-text of highly-respected newspaper (the library has hundreds more).

You may want to expand your NYT search to "ALL AVAILABLE DATES".

You may want to sort by relevance or by date.

5. Put your citations into proper format:

Library guide to MLA format

Citation Machine, free online service that automatically puts them in the correct format.