TeenZone Blog

Student Research Center is a one-stop search spot made especially for teens that searches a whole bunch of databases all at once  - ones with magazine articles, newspaper articles, biographies, images, history stuff, health stuff, science stuff, literature stuff, and more. So whether you’re researching solar energy or Marie Curie or the Emancipation Proclamation, give it a try.  Not at the library? All you need is your Carrollton Public Library card.

Not the best speller? If you’re even close, it will offer a “Did you mean…” with what it thinks you might be looking for.

What’s really cool is you can limit your search to see just the magazine articles…or the books & encyclopedias results…or the photos…or primary source documents. You can do that either before or after you search. You can also narrow the search results even more by clicking on one of the subjects listed to the left of the results.

The most important thing to remember when you are searching ANY database is to look for the option to Limit Your Results to Full Text. It doesn’t matter how awesome the article sounds if they aren’t going to give it to you NOW!

Once you find a great article or photo, you can print it, e-mail it, or save it. If you need a bunch of articles, you can save them to a folder so you can e-mail or print them all at once. You can even choose the citation style - MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian!

This is just one of the databases you’ll find on the Homework Databases page. Happy researching!

Need a newspaper article for a homework assignment? Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.

Try a newspaper database to search for articles. Just remember to have your Carrollton Public Library card handy. And use that limit to full text option so you get the whole article. (Info Trac hides the limit for full text under More search options.) We’ve got:

• Newspaper Source
• Info Trac Newspapers
• Newsbank - (Dallas Morning News and New York Times only)

To see today’s news stories, try the online version of a newspaper. You don’t have to know the name of a city’s newspaper. To see the newspapers in a particular U.S. state listed city by city, go to

• Newslink

For news with an international view, look under Newspapers around the World at

• Internet Public Library - Newspapers

Happy researching!

The Arrival by Shaun Tan is a wordless graphic novel telling the story of one immigrant’s journey to a new land. We follow him as he leaves his home, seeking to make a better life for himself and his family. He arrives in a strange new world and struggles to understand a new culture, a new language, new foods…a whole new way of life. With the help of others, who like himself came from other lands, he is eventually able to create a new home for his family.

Even though the story is fantastical in nature, it reminds us of our own familie’s struggles leaving their own homelands and making their way to the new world that is the United States of America. Some of our families have been here for many generations, while some of our families are only newly immigrated.

How much do you know about your own family history and heritage? Did your parents or grandparents immigrate here? Where were your ancestors from? You can learn more about ancestory and your family heritage by exploring some of the library’s databases. Take a look at Ancestory Library Edition and HeritageQuest Online both located on the libary’s History Database Page.  You can also look at the library’s Genealogy Links Page for more internet resources you can use to research your family history.

It’s 9:30 at night…you need to analyze the metaphors in Lord of the Flies for class tomorrow…and the library is CLOSED. Argggh! Don’t despair! With your Carrollton Public Library card and an Internet connection you’re just a few clicks away from some help to get that lit crit assignment done. Literature Resource Center is a one-stop database for literary criticism and biographical essays. The tabbed navigation menu makes it easy to see whether you’re looking at Literary Criticism or a Biography. Don’t forget to try our other homework databases when you need other kinds of articles or information for an assignment but can’t get to the library.

Whether you’re researching social issues like gun control for a debate or looking for info on a hot news topic like the sub-prime mortgage rate mess, we have research databases full of articles that can help. Have your Carrollton Public Library card handy if you’re not at the library.

ABC-Clio Issues lets you browse for information about social issues. Below are the categories with a couple of example topics:

• Society - Academic Plagiarism, School Violence, etc. ;
• Gender/Ethnicity - Affirmative Action, Domestic Violence, etc.;
• Criminal Justice - Cybercrime - File Sharing and Copyright, Domestic Terrorism, etc.;
• Government/Law/Politics - Religion in Schools, Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide, etc.;
• Environment - Global Warming, Animal Rights, etc.;
• Science/Technology - Genetic Engineering, Stem Cell Research, etc.

NewsBank lets you search the Dallas Morning News and The New York Times. What’s cool about this database is you can get the local perspective since it covers the local newspaper. Click the “Hot Topics” link under “Current Events” to get the best search terms to find hot news stories. Check out the “Special Reports” for links to timely stories.

The library also has the Opposing Viewpoints books. They have articles giving both sides on a controversial issue. They’re super-helpful when getting ready for a debate because they present some of the arguments you might have to counter.