LibGuides: ENG 112: Critical Writing and Reading: Overview

Welcome!

The Thompson Library has many resources to help you with the papers and projects assigned in your ENG 112 classes. This page has links to library databases, citation resources, and helpful video tutorials that will be useful no matter who your instructor is.

The blue tabs on the left side will have resources to help with assignments from specific instructors.

Remember! If you have any questions about using the library or accessing a source, please contact Liz or use Ask Us!.

Ask Us!
Find contact information for all the UM-Flint librarians.

Research Process, Topics, and Avoiding Plagiarism

Research Process Guide
This library guide takes you step-by-step through the research process. It includes help on developing a topic, search strategy, and writing and citing.
Suggested Topics
Lists of topic ideas organized by broad academic discipline; includes current and controversial issues.
Avoiding Plagiarism
Some of your instructors may be giving credit or extra credit for attending one of the library's live webinars on Avoiding Plagiarism.

Search Tools and Databases

These three search tools and databases will bring back sources across different academic disciplines. They are good places to start looking for sources if you are unsure where to begin.

ProQuest Research This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Research is a wide-ranging resource with a diversified mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers, and is designed to cover the top 150 core academic subject areas extensively.
Over 5,000 magazines and journals, 1971 to present (indexing); 1987 to present (full text); coverage varies by title. All subjects.
EBSCO Discovery Service This link opens in a new window
Search all subscribed EBSCOhost databases simultaneously.
Searches the EBSCOhost databases to which UM-Flint subscribes, including:
- CINAHL
- Criminal Justice Abstracts
- America: History and Life
- Historical Abstracts
- Political Science Complete
- Business Source Complete
- PsycInfo & PsycArticles
- Dozens of other resources
QuickSearch This link opens in a new window
The discovery tool that lets you search the Thompson Library's books, journals, articles, course reserves, streaming media, and more.
Formerly Search All or Primo VE.

The following two databases are great places to search for sources if you are researching current events or controversial topics.

Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
Covers contemporary social issues with pro & con and background information. Also allows searching of the collection Global Issues.
Covers contemporary social issues, from Offshore Drilling to Climate Change, Health Care to Immigration. Helps students research, analyze and organize a broad variety of data for conducting research, completing writing assignments, preparing for debates, creating presentations, and more. This resource helps students explore issues from all perspectives, and includes: pro/con viewpoint essays, topic overviews, primary source documents, biographies of social activists and reformers, court-case overviews, periodical articles, statistical tables, charts and graphs, images and a link to Google Image Search, podcasts (including weekly presidential addresses and premier NPR programs), and a national and state curriculum standards search correlated to the content that allows educators to quickly identify material by grade and discipline.

Keyword(s): United States
Issues & Controversies This link opens in a new window
Balanced, accurate discussions of over 250 controversial topics in the news along with chronologies, illustrations, maps, tables, sidebars, contact info, and bibliographies, including primary source documents and news editorials.
Covers 1995-present. A Read Aloud button is available for text-to-speech for much of the content.

We have many databases that are specific to a particular topic or field of study. The go-to for nursing student is CINAHL. For psychology majors, it's PsychINFO. Engineers use IEEEXplore.

For more databases for a specific academic subject try our Research Subject Guides.

Thompson Library Research Guides
All of the library's research and course guides. Find databases and resources on specific disciplines.

Video Tutorials

The library has many tutorial videos on our YouTube channel. We've linked directly to a couple of specific playlists that are helpful when you are getting started with your research projects.

Thompson Library YouTube Channel
The official YouTube channel for the UM-Flint Thompson Library. Find video tutorials and playlists on how to use library resources and other research help.
Searching for Articles YouTube Playlist
Find video tutorials to help you search the library's resources.
UM-Flint Library Ebook Tutorials Playlist
We have created a playlist of video tutorials to help you find and use the various library ebook databases.

MLA Citation Help

Citation Tools
The library's guide to citation tools, including Zotero and EndNote Online.

MLA Handbook by The Modern Language Association of America
Call Number: Reserves | LB 2369 .M52 2021
Publication Date: 2021
The only official, authorized book on MLA style. The new, ninth edition builds on the MLA's unique approach to documenting sources using a template of core elements facts, common to most sources, like author, title, and publication date that allows writers to cite any type of work, from books, e-books, and journal articles in databases to song lyrics, online images, social media posts, dissertations, and more.

The MLA Style Center
A companion to the MLA Handbook, the site provides students and educators with a host of free resources for teaching and learning the MLA’s approach to research, writing, and documentation. It offers a quick guide to citing any source according to the MLA template of core elements, a practice template, a Q&A feature with hundreds of citation examples, a blog of writing tips, guidelines for formatting a paper and avoiding plagiarism, sample papers, lesson plans, worksheets, and other classroom resources submitted by users.

Purdue OWL This link opens in a new window
Online guide to APA, MLA, and Chicago citation styles, drafting résumés, and avoiding plagiarism.