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Journalism 201A: News Writing and Reporting (Wilson): National Background

This guide is for Instructor Wilson's Journalism 201A class. It covers finding local and national information, as well as finding information at Cuesta.

U.S. Census Bureau

Statistical Abstract of the U.S.

The Statistical Abstract of the U.S. has been published annually since 1878. It includes statistics on the social, economic, and political organization of the U.S.

Internet Sources

Google Web Search

You may be able to find valuable information on the web. Look for information from credible sources - these often end with .gov or .edu.

Note: PBS is a good source for many social issues.

Exploring OneSearch

One Search makes it easy to find books, journal and magazine articles, eBooks, videos and streaming media from a single search box, with one list of results and options for refining them.

Getting Started

  • Go to the Cuesta Library's OneSearch box on the Library Home Page or myCuesta (under Resources tab)
  • Type in any keyword or phrase and choose the Search icon or Enter key on your keyboard
  • For the broadest results, do not change the default search (Everything)

Search for reserves, articles, books, films and more...

Primo Search
Advanced Search   |   Search Help   |   Ask a Librarian

Understanding your OneSearch results

Understanding Your Results

  • Your results are sorted by relevance to your search term(s)
  • The results list contains books, articles, and videos 
  • Each entry on your results list includes the title, author, date, and type of source
  • Items available online in their entirety say Available Online through Cuesta College

To find print books

  • Find the location, call number, and availability of the book at the end of the entry
  • Write down the call number to find it on the library shelves

To find articles

  • Click on the title of the article
  • Click on the database title under the heading "View Online"
  • Choose the PDF full text link

Sign in to your Library account
On the Results page, you can sign in to your library (MyCuesta) account. Doing this will allow you to:

  • View more complete search results
  • Renew books and other library materials
  • Save searches
  • Create favorites lists
  • Export citations to EndNote Web and other citation management tools

OneSearch results images

Tips for using OneSearch

In a Basic Search you'll receive results that contain all of your search terms. These may match keywords in a title, author names, subjects, abstracts, or other descriptions. Use the Advanced Search to pre-limit your search to specific fields, material types, or publication dates.

  • Refine your results using the Filters on the left side of the screen to limit to items available online or physically available in the library. You can also include or exclude particular material types, dates, authors, subjects, or library locations.
  • Type an asterisk * as a wildcard in place of one or more characters. [Example: recycl* will find recycle and recycling]
  • Search for phrases by enclosing your terms in quotation marks. This will only return results with an exact match. [Examples: "global warming", "Affordable Care Act", "mutual funds"]
  • Separate terms with Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT. [Example: "World War II" AND battles NOT Pearl Harbor]
  • Click here for a visual example of Boolean Operators