Welcome to the CQ Researcher Tutorial!

CQ Researcher is a unique research tool that issues a report each week on an important issue in society or politics, including health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the economy. The weekly reports have been written for decades so it is possible to see how some topics have developed and changed. CQ Researcher is an excellent tool for accessing background information on various topics.

In this tutorial, you will learn:

• How to browse for topics in CQ Researcher to use for your researched essay assignment
• How to find reports on topics that provide information such as the Current Situation, Chronology, Pro/Con and more...
• How to find other relevant sources to use for your research

NOTE: If you're off-campus, you will be asked to sign in with your LUC username and password.
Use the arrows below to navigate through the tutorial.

Browse for Topics

There are a few ways to browse for potential research topics through CQ Researcher. On the bottom of the main page, there is a list of Hot Topics. This also shows up on the right hand side if you are viewing CQ Researcher outside of this tutorial. You can also click the Menu button in the top left-hand corner. Then, choose Browse Reports and browse reports by date, Issue Tracker and Pro/Con.

On the top menu, there are several drop-down options.

• Click BROWSE TOPICS and choose a topic that interests you from the drop-down menu.
• After you pick a general topic, click one of the subtopics that interests you.
• Then click one of the report links that interests you. Feel free to browse and explore during this process. (The reports are listed in chronological order.)

Browse Topic Reports

The report will have the following sections through which you can browse:

• Introduction
• Overview
• Background
• Current Situation
• Outlook
• Pro/Con
• Chronology
• Short Features
• Maps/Graphs
• Bibliography
• The Next Step
• Contacts
• Footnotes
• About the Author

Click through some of the sections to explore information on the topic. Background, Current Situation, Outlook, Pro/Con and Chronology are especially helpful sections.

What is one interesting thing you learned about the topic from the report you've chosen?

Find Links to Other Relevant Sources

Topic Reports from CQ Researcher are compiled from a variety of sources. You can potentially use these sources for your research paper.

• Click the Footnotes section of the report
• Skim through the sources listed and if you find one that interests you, click the link next to the source. It should take you to the actual source.
• If there is no link, try copying and pasting the title of the article into the LUC Library Catalog on the main page of the LUC Libraries website - http://libraries.luc.edu/
• If you're still unable to find the article, please Ask a Librarian for assistance.

Wrap Up

Congratulations! You’ve completed the UCWR CQ Researcher Tutorial.

You can always access CQ Researcher from the Loyola University Chicago Libraries website in the Databases List under C or through the UCWR Research Guide under Most Used Resources on the first page or in the Types of Sources page.

We will discuss more about your experiences with CQ Researcher and you will get a chance to use it in conjunction with other library resources when I come to your class.

To get additional help from a librarian, please click here or stop by the Information Commons or Lewis Library Reference Desk.

Thank you!

Certificate

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