This  guide is a starting point for identifying, locating, using, and evaluating materials in editorial, opinion articles, and / or editorial cartoons on an issue of current interest to the students enrolled in Dr. Conway's English 102. 
If you need additional assistance, please Ask a Librarian or contact Mrs. Kathleen Lowe, Reference and Instruction Librarian, at lowek@montevallo.edu or 665-6109.

Terms to Know

Editorial: an opinion piece written by the editorial page editor or members of the editorial board, generally appearing on the editorial page in a newspaper or a magazine. The editorial authority of a publication results from its integrity, objectivity, and accuracy.

Op end:  [newspapers] the page adjacent to-opposite-the editorial page, used for columns and opinion articles, including those by outsiders (non-staffers). In some cases, bylined op-ed articles and letters to the editor appear on the editorial page itself rather than opposite to it or near it.

 Weiner, Richard.  Webster’s New World Dictionary of Media and Communications.  New York:  Macmillan, 1996.

 Choosing and developing a topic of interest for your report

• Discuss your ideas with Dr. Conway

• Discuss your ideas with a reference librarian. Mrs. Lowe (lowek@montevallo.edu) and Mrs. Sears offer a variety of consulting services.  

• Browse the Internet sites listed below for current topics. 

• The Library has the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Birmingham News in print. Browse through recent  issues to locate editorials and op-ed pieces of interest to you.  

Finding editorials and opinion pieces in newspapers 

The Library newspaper databases can efficiently locate current editorial and opinion pieces in newspapers.  

• ProQuest Newspapers (Proquest)
  Full-text access to many major United States and international newspapers, regional newspapers, and wire services. Our collection includes the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times.

• Ethnic News Watch (Proquest)
  Full-text access to interdisciplinary and bilingual sources from ethnic, minority and native presses.
  
  To limit your search to only Editorials, open the Advance Search tab. In the first search box change the search to Document Type, open the Browse Documents type list and choose Editorial. The term Editorial should appear in the first search box. Proceed to entering your search terms in the next search boxes.
   

Editorial cartoons on the Internet

• Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonist Index
  Extensive daily compilation of editorial cartoons from around the world covering current issues and figures

• United Media Editorial Cartoons

• Slate.com Political Humor and cartoons

• Washington Post editorial cartoons

• CNN Political Cartoons

• Cartoonbank.com
  NEW YORKER Cartoons & Cover Prints

Gateway to editorial writings

• Arts & Letters Daily

Check with Dr. Conway...

• The Onion

Finding Books and Journals in the Library

The first resource to locate books is the Library Catalog. 

Several examples of Library of Congress Subject Headings appropriate for use in the  Catalog when searching for books containing editorials and editorial cartoons :

• Editorial cartoons

• Political cartoons

• Editorial cartoonists

• Cartoonists

• Editorials 

Citing the sources you find

    The following entries describe how to cite a Cartoon or Comic Strip in a list of works cited.
    5.8.9  To cite a cartoon or comic strip, sate the artist's name; the title of the cartoon or comic strip (if any), in quotation marks; and the descriptive label Cartoon or Comic strip, neither underlined nor enclosed in quotation marks.  Conclude with the  usual publication information.

Chast, Roz.  Cartoon.  New Yorker 4 Feb. 2002: 53.

Trudeau, Garry.   "Doonesbury."  Comic strip.  Star-Ledger  [Newark]  4 May 2002: 26.

            MLA Handbook  p. 203