Use the MCC Library Catalog to find out what physical and electronic resources the Library has available. Enter your search below to get started!
To access any database in this Research Guide from off campus, you will need your myMCC login.
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Monday January 15
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Researching local and community issues may be challenging. Just because you know of a local issue, that does not mean that there is scholarly research readily available on it. You will likely have to use local newspapers or other local periodicals (Chicago Tribune, Northwest Herald, etc.), or interviews, etc. for specifics on recent and very local topics.
For more scholarly sources, consider researching the broader topic (and your sub-points/arguments) for background and other examples of your topic in different communities. How has the problem been managed elsewhere? What causes and effects have been researched? What pieces of that can be applied to the local situation? Once you have a understanding of the larger topic you can apply that research back to the local issue, developing conclusions and suggestions based on the research you have found.
As always leave yourself plenty of time for research and be sure to seek the assistance of a reference librarian if you need more help!
McHenry County, Illinois by 
Encyclopedia of Community
County and City Extra
ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United StatesThese databases consist of reference eBooks, which are useful for background information on your topic.
full-text, aggregated content covers every major subject from the world's best publishers of reference
Gale eBooks offers broad cross-curricular collection of non-fiction titles, supporting science, geography, history, language arts, business and other subjects. Optimized for search and discovery, the Gale eBooks platform enables you to search through multiple nonfiction eBooks within a single search.
The databases below are good for finding articles on your topic. Other databases may be useful for your topic as well, depending on the topic! For example, research on local organic farming may begin with a look at articles in local newspapers with Newspaper Source.
Full-text national and regional newspapers, tv and radio transcripts
Global Issues supports global awareness and provides a global perspective while tying together a wealth of authoritative content, empowering learners to critically analyze and understand the most important issues of the modern world. Integrating news, global viewpoints, reference materials, country information, primary source documents, videos, statistics, and more, Global Issues is updated daily and offers background and guidance on significant topics like Food Security, Genocide, Human Rights, Extreme Weather, and more.
Gale Academic OneFile, provides millions of articles from over 17,000 scholarly journals and other authoritative sources and covers everything from art and literature to economics and the sciences. Also included are thousands of podcasts and videos.