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Resources Available at the Library: Fast Food Nation Subject Headings  |  Library Subscription Databases  |  Search Tips for this Assignment  |  Reference/Statistical Sources Selected Web Sites:  Consumer Interest/Meat Safety    Commercialism in Schools    Fast Food Corporation Practices World Wide Web: Academic Searching  |  World Wide Web: General Searching  |  Library Catalog Searching EbscoHost  |  Searching Alt-PressWatch  |  Searching Lexis-Nexis Academic

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Remember: Use General World Wide Web Search Engines last
Because anybody can put anything on the Web

Sometimes instead of searching by keywords, you may have better luck finding materials by consulting the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH).  This is important because you can sometimes get better search results.  For example, articles, books, and web sites on the "fast foods" will usually be indexed under "Convenience Foods."  To browse such headings, they are in the five thick red volumes on the left side of the reference desk.

Here’s some suggested headings (Note—some terms could be combined by country or region such as "United States" or California. Example: "Convenience Foods and United States").  For the assignment related to commercialism in schools, the top two rows of headings would be most appropriate, though depending on your argument, others may suffice:

Library Subscription Databases: http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/abby/dblist.html. —To find articles related to your topic that originally appeared in magazines, journals, and newspapers. Originally published in print form.  For this assignment, the databases that will work best will especially be EbscoHost Academic Search Elite, Alt-PressWatch, and Lexis-Nexis Academic.  However, the other listed databases may also be helpful, depending on the direction you go in the assignment (example: if you want to find articles on treatment of minority and alien workers in packing houses, you may want to search Ethnic NewsWatch Complete as well.)

Tips on Searching for this Assignment

1.       Use subject terms AND keywords.  Be prepared to perform several different searches using different search combinations.

2.       In Lexis-Nexis, remember that the Quick News Search only searches up to the last two years.  You need to use Guided News Search to search for articles published earlier than 2002.  Select Guided News Search, and follow each step stated on the search form to produce a productive search.  Information on how to search Lexis-Nexis effectively is listed at the end of this handout (last page).

3.       In EbscoHost, please remember the Revised Search folder tab.  Click on it and then click on Expanders to expand your search if it is not fruitful.  Selecting the option Also Search Within the Full Text of Articles may turn a search with no results with fruitful, relevant results.  For more tips, look at the information on how to search EbscoHost effectively at the end of this handout (last page).

Reference/Statistical Sources (Books, Databases and Web sites)  

 Web Sites

Consumer Interest/Meat Safety

Eat Well Guide
http://www.eatwellguide.org/index.cfm
From the non-profit organization, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, this web site provides a directory to supermarkets, restaurants, and farm and meat distributors that provide either organic or “all natural” meats.  When going to an actual supermarket, keep in mind that you still need to match the listed farm or meat distributor on the list (supermarkets can have meats coming from more than one farm).  In addition to the market chains listed in a previous version of this directory, such as Trader Joe’s, Nob Hill, and Whole Foods supermarket chains, PW Markets has since begun selling “all natural” beef (the ones from Meyers, that is) which do not use antibiotics, hormones, or use animal products in the feed.

Statements on Antibiotic Use by Major Restaurant Chains
http://www.keepantibioticsworking.com/library/uploadedfiles/Recent_Statements_on_Antibiotic_Use_by_Major_R.htm
From the non-profit organization, “Keep Antibiotics Working,” this site asked different restaurant chains to respond to the pending crisis regarding the use of antibiotics used in meats that could seriously affect the health of consumers.  The responses are directly from the companies and have not been verified for accuracy.  

Frontline: Modern Meat
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/meat/
From Frontline, an in-depth journalistic show on PBS, this site discusses the current controversies involved in the meat production and meat inspection industries.  Includes reports, interviews, and statistical facts.

National Food Safety Database
http://foodsafety.ifas.ufl.edu/indexNFSDB.htm

Center for Consumer Freedom
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/
This website is supported by restaurants, food companies, and “concerned” consumers (they do not list what restaurants or food companies).  Their purpose is to defend the consumer’s rights in their choice of food and criticizes many arguments made on food safety, obesity, and other food-related issues (such as the ones made in Schlosser’s book). Their claim is basically this (quoted directly from their site):  “The growing cabal of ‘food cops,’ health care enforcers, militant activists, meddling bureaucrats, and violent radicals who think they know ‘what’s best for you’ are pushing against our basic freedoms.”   Unfortunately, their articles contain loaded language, stating obvious political bias.  They also spend more time viciously attacking the more activist organizations than dispensing factual information to make their points.  If using this site as a source, be sure to look for factual information from other sources, to better back up your claims for your paper

Commercialism in Schools

NOW with Bill Moyers.  Society and Community.  Schools, Inc.
http://www.pbs.org/now/society/schoolstats.html
Provides both the pros and cons on commercialism in schools

Public Education: Commercial Activities in Schools
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/he00156.pdf
From the United States General Accounting Office, a study on different commercial activities in schools.  Report was published in September, 2000.

Information on Fast Food Corporation Practices

McDonald’s (Company Image):

Pro:   www.macdonalds.com
Con:  www.mcspotlight.org
Get two different viewpoints of the MacDonald’s corporation by looking at the two most often retrieved sites on the corporate image of McDonald’s.

World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/en
Search the site to find documents regarding the fast food industry.

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF)
http://www.iuf.org/
McDonald employees in Europe are members of this Union.  News stories covered include those in the United States.

CorpWatch
http://www.corpwatch.org
A critical web site on corporate practices around the world, CorpWatch provides news resources as well as active campaigns in its quest to reveal and challenge "corporate-led globalization through education and activism...for human rights, labor rights and environmental justice."

World Wide Web: Academic Searching
http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/handouts/metasites.pdf

Public WWW Sites Selected by Librarians  http://tinyurl.com/yugjcn

 World Wide Web: General Searching http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/handouts/Eng1A/Transue.html#search

Evaluate the sites you find using the Web Evaluation Checklist:  http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/abby/evalution.html

Library Catalog—Finding Books and Videos: http://tinyurl.com/8mo5z

How to Search the Library Catalog: http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/handouts/librarycatalog.html

Library of Congress Classification Handout: http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/handouts/lc.html

Map of Library: http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/abby/librarymap.html           
 

Tips to Searching EbscoHost

1.       Combine Subject Headings and/or general keywords (use “Convenience Foods” instead of fast food, UNLESS you need to expand your search.  If you use “Fast food,” use it with other terms).

2.       When looking at your search results and you have many, try ranking your results by Relevance instead of Date (top right pull-down menu).

3.       If results are not fruitful, click on the Refine Search folder tab.  Click on Expanders and select Also Search Within the full text of Articles.  Scroll back up and try the search again.

4.       When viewing your search results, remember that full text is only available when either the HTML or PDF icons are listed below the database.  If the article is not available in full-text, take a look at the Notes field to see what local libraries carry the magazine and journal, paying attention to the years that they carry.

5.       When you have an article in PDF format, to print the article use the print icon from the PDF toolbar (not from the browser).  To E-Mail an article, you use the link to E-Mail that is above the PDF toolbar (not in the toolbar).

Select an online article from EbscoHost Academic Search Elite:

Tips to Searching Alt-PressWatch  (Note: You can search all 3 Proquest Diversity Databases at Once)

1.       Key words may be more fruitful than subject headings, but still use them if you need a more focused or relevant search.

2.        If you have a number of results and the top results seem dated, click on the Sort button and try resorting your results by Date instead of By Relevance.

Select an online article from Alt-PressWatch:

Tips to Searching Lexis-Nexis Academic

1.       To search all of Lexis-Nexis news resources, use Quick News Search.  Do not use connectors AND or OR.  Use quotation marks for phrases.  (ex.  “fast food” “high schools” commercialism)  Keep in mind that you can only search up to the past two years.

2.       To search articles in particular news sources or to search for stories older than two years, use Guided News Search.  Follow these directions below

a.       Select a News Category such as General News, U.S. News, or World News.

b.       Select a News Source such as Major Papers or Policy Papers or Transcripts (General News), California News (U.S. News) or a region of World News (in World News)

c.       Enter search terms.  In this case, do use AND and OR for combining searches and do NOT use quotation marks for phrases.  (ex.  fast food AND high schools AND commercialism)

d.       Select a date range.  When searching Lexis-Nexis in Guided News Search, it is very important you specify a particular time period.

e.       If your results lead to a screen saying, sorry, your search retrieves over 1,000 documents, it is time to narrow your search.  Consider using more search terms or narrowing your date range.

 Select an online article from Lexis-Nexis:

This handout is also available at the following address: http://www.chabotcollege.edu/Library/handouts/Eng1A/FastFoodNation.html