Opposing Viewpoints In Context is the premier online resource covering today’s hottest social issues. Its informed, differing views present each side of an issue and help students develop information literacy, critical thinking skills, and the confidence to draw their own valid conclusions.
1. Select Opposing Viewpoints from the library webpage by clicking on "Opposing Viewpoints" under Quick Links or select “O” from the A – Z Databases link. If working from off-campus, you may need to enter your KCTCS email and password.
2. If you do not know what topic you want to research or if you want to browse the issues covered in Opposing Viewpoints, select “Browse Issues.” If you know your topic, enter it in the search bar on the left and skip to step 5.
Remember a topic might be multi-disciplinary in scope and you should browse multiple, related topic pages. I have selected the topic “fast fashion.” Fast fashion is cheap, trendy clothing that is not made to last and is created in overseas factories. Related topics would be “sustainability” and “sweatshops.”
3. Each topic contains a variety of sources such as: an overview, viewpoints, academic journal articles, magazine & news articles, and more. Always start your reading with the topic overview. Next, explore both “featured viewpoints” and “viewpoints” to read positions written by journalists, practitioners, and others in the related field. Read the biography about the author to determine the source credibility and to understand why they hold their position(s).
4. Below is a “featured viewpoint.” Take note of the information about the author and the cite, send to (email), and print buttons.
5. If you enter your topic in the search box, you might have auto-generated suggestions. Select what is appropriate. I am researching wearing a mask.
Mask wearing does not have a topic page, but I can select articles from the the different sources or “content types” listed. Magazines and news articles publish very current news, so I would want to look at those to find information about mask wearing and COVID-19.
I selected News sources & will sort by newest articles first, or by publication date.
I selected the article “Wearing Masks, Common in Asia, Rises in the West” from April 10, 2020 published in the New York Times. Note the cite, send to, download, and print tools in the upper right corner. Author, publisher, and date information is circled. Also note the Explore tools linking to more similar articles and related subjects.
