Step 1: Familiarize Yourself with Your Subject with Background Reading
Begin your project by doing some background reading on your topic. Preliminary reading helps you do all the following:
- achieve a basic understanding of your problem
- begin to identify interesting specific questions that will form the backbone of your research; and
- start to acquire vital search terms you need in order to explore your subject more fully.
Resources from MJC Databases - Background Reading
CQ Researcher Online This link opens in a new windowThis is the resource for finding original, comprehensive reporting and analysis to get background information on issues in the news. It provides overviews of topics related to health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy in America.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new windowUse this database for preliminary reading as you start your research. You'll learn about your topic by reading authoritative topic overviews on a wide variety of subjects.
Environment/Climate
The Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health by Brigham NarinsISBN: 9780028666716
Publication Date: 2020
"Focuses on health crises affecting the public at large, ranging from epidemic and pandemic diseases; chronic conditions such as famine, malnutrition, cancer, and diabetes; and social issues such as sexual abuse, obesity, bullying, and new substance abuse issues.
Environmental Health Sb, 6th Ed by Kevin Hayes (Other)ISBN: 9780780819849
Publication Date: 2022
Environmental Health Sourcebook, 6th Ed has updated information about the effects of the environment on human health. Airborne, waterborne, food-borne, and chemical hazards are discussed, and facts about cancer, respiratory problems, infertility, autism, and other diseases with suspected environmental triggers are presented.
The Gale Encyclopedia of Environmental Health by Jacqueline L. LongeISBN: 9781410388230
Publication Date: 2024
"Contains over 280 entries on environmental health. Topics include significant historic and current natural and manmade events, public health terms, diseases and conditions related to the environment, and organizations and legislation"--
Access to Health Care/Health Care Disparity
Health Care off the Books by Danielle T. RaudenbushISBN: 9780520305618
Publication Date: 2020-02-11
Millions of low-income African Americans in the United States lack access to health care. How do they treat their health care problems? In Health Care Off the Books, Danielle T. Raudenbush provides an answer that challenges public perceptions and prior scholarly work.
Food Inequality/Poverty
Food Inequalities by Tennille Nicole AllenISBN: 9781440864308
Publication Date: 2021-05-24
This book provides an accessible introduction to food inequality in the United States, offering readers a broad survey of the most important topics and issues and exploring how economics, culture, and public policy have shaped our current food landscape. Food inequality in the United States can take many forms. From the low-income family unable to afford enough to eat and the migrant farm worker paid below minimum wage to city dwellers stranded in an urban food desert, disparities in how we access and relate to food can have significant physical, psychological, and cultural consequences.
Dig Deeper with Academic Databases
Reports, Magazines, News, Academic Journals
EBSCOhost Databases This link opens in a new windowSearch 22 databases simultaneously that cover almost any topic you need to research at MJC. EBSCO databases include articles previously published in journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media outlets.
Gale Databases This link opens in a new windowSearch over 35 databases simultaneously that cover almost any topic you need to research at MJC. Gale databases include articles previously published in journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media outlets.
Gale In Context: Global Issues This link opens in a new windowUse this database when you want to explore your topic from a global perspective or to analyze and understand the most important issues of the modern world with a global awareness. You'll find news, global viewpoints, reference materials, country information, primary source documents, videos, statistics, and more.
Issues & Controversies This link opens in a new windowThis is a great database to use when you want to explore different viewpoints on controversial or hot-button issues. It includes reports on more than 800 hot topics in business, politics, government, education, and popular culture. Use the search or browse topics by subject or A to Z.
Environmental Health Sb, 6th Ed by 
Health Care off the Books by 
Food Inequalities by 
The SAGE Encyclopedia of World Poverty by 
Each citation in your list of works cited is composed of elements common to most works -- author, title, publication date, etc. These are called the MLA core elements. The core elements are assembled in a specific order as shown to the left.