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Research Databases

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ARTSTOR This link opens in a new window Artstor provides faculty and students with a complete image resource in a wide array of subjects. With approximately 300 collections composed of over 2.5 million images (and growing), scholars can examine wide-ranging material such as Native American art from the Smithsonian, treasures from the Louvre, and panoramic, 360-degree views of the Hagia Sophia in a single, easy-to-use resource. Artstor also supports study across disciplines, including anthropology from Harvard’s Peabody Museum, archaeology from Erich Lessing Culture and Fine Art Archives, and modern history from Magnum Photos, making it a resource for your whole institution.
Bloom's Literature This link opens in a new window Bloom’s Literature is rich with relevant content on the core authors and works most studied in the high school curriculum. Students will find exactly what they need without having to wade through an uncurated search. Educators will appreciate the thoughtful organization and important curriculum tools to help with lesson plans, assignments, and independent study.
Britannica School This link opens in a new window
Welcome to Britannica School, a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Elementary, Middle, and High School. Discover encyclopedia articles, multimedia, primary sources, games, and other learning resources that support student research and reinforce curriculum standards.
Chemistry World (on campus access only) This link opens in a new window Chemistry, covered. Science news, research, reviews, features and opinions. Read Chemistry World to keep up with stories from across the chemical sciences. Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry in the UK.
Classroom Video On Demand This link opens in a new window Classroom Video On Demand is a state-of-the-art streaming video platform that makes it possible to incorporate outstanding educational programs from Facts On File and Films Media Group into your classroom.
CultureGrams This link opens in a new window CultureGrams® is a leading reference resource for reliable cultural information on the countries of the world.
Ebscohost This link opens in a new window EBSCOhost is an intuitive online research platform used by thousands of institutions and millions of users worldwide. With quality databases and search features, EBSCOhost helps researchers of all kinds find the information they need fast.
Users outside of China please use this link: http://search.ebscohost.com/
Explora Secondary This link opens in a new window Explora is EBSCO’s research interface designed specifically for students and educators. The secondary school version features relevant and reliable content and easy-to-use functionality to help high school students successfully complete their research.
Flipster Digital Magazines This link opens in a new window Flipster is an easy-to-use digital magazine newsstand for libraries
Global Issues This link opens in a new window Gale In Context: Global Issues supports awareness and provides perspective on global issues, while tying together a wealth of authoritative content: empowering learners to critically analyse and understand the most important issues of the modern world.
Gale in Context: Middle School This link opens in a new window
Created specifically for middle school students, Gale In Context: Middle School combines the best of Gale's reference content with age-appropriate videos, newspapers, magazines, primary sources, and much more. Categories cover a range of the most-studied topics including cultures, government, people, U.S. and world history, literature, and many more.
Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
Find overviews, news, and opinions on hundreds of today's important social issues.
Infobase: History Research Center This link opens in a new window Infobase’s acclaimed history databases are designed to assist educators and students with their research needs. From this link search the following databases: American History, Ancient and Medieval History, and Modern World History
Infobase: Science Online This link opens in a new window Science Online offers a comprehensive overview of a broad range of scientific disciplines. Topic Centers feature specially selected content on core science disciplines to help students find a starting point for their research.
Infobase: Today's Science This link opens in a new window
Today's Science bridges the gap between the science that students learn in the classroom and the discoveries pushing the boundaries of science today. Updated weekly and containing thousands of links to a 25-year back-file, Today's Science explains important developments in biology, chemistry, the environment, space, physics, and technology. Students are provided with information in context, clearly explained and abundantly illustrated, so they can see new advances not as inexplicable wonders, but as resulting from the application of the same concepts and principles of investigation (the scientific method) that they are learning about in simpler form in the classroom.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window JSTOR provides access to more than 12 million academic journal articles, books, and primary sources in 75 disciplines.
Kids Discover Online This link opens in a new window
Oxford Art This link opens in a new window The gateway to Oxford’s art reference works, including the peer-reviewed, regularly updated Grove® Dictionary of Art and the Benezit Dictionary of Artists. Includes over 200,000 articles that span ancient to contemporary art and architecture, as well as over 19,000 images of works of art, structures, plans, and artist signatures.
Oxford Music This link opens in a new window The gateway to Grove Music Online, with access to search The Oxford Dictionary of Music and The Oxford Companion to Music. The authoritative resource for music research with over 52,000 articles written by nearly 9,000 scholars charting the diverse history and cultures of music around the globe.
Teen Health & Wellness This link opens in a new window Teen Health & Wellness provides middle and high school students with nonjudgmental, straightforward, curricular and self-help support, aligned to state, national, and provincial standards. Topics include diseases, drugs and alcohol, nutrition, mental health, suicide and bullying, green living, LGBTQ issues, and more.
World Book Online This link opens in a new window World Book Online is a suite of online research tools that includes encyclopedia articles, primary source collections, educator tools, student activities, educational games, pictures, audio, and video, complemented by current periodicals and related Web sites.

The Best Research Plan

1. Read broadly to build background knowledge about your SUBJECT (video search, general web search, encyclopedias, IB textbooks).

2. Formulate a FOCUSED research question.

3. Gather information that addresses your research question (survey, interview, journal articles, etc.)

4. Write your essay.

ALWAYS be able to answer these questions about your topic:

What is your paper about?

What is your thesis? Your argument? Your point?

So what? Why is it important?

Now what? Given the research you've done, what action should happen?

Topic Finders

Browse through these resources to go from a general topic of interests down to a specific area of focus.

JSTOR
Browse by subjects.
JSTOR Daily
Where news meets its scholarly match. Lots of interesting articles from scholars looking at global issues and daily events. You might find an interesting topic here.
Literary Themes and Topics
An interesting list of possible themes to explore if you are considering an EE in English.
Literature Themes
A Huge List of Common Themes in Literature. Not everything is here, but it's a place to start.
Opposing Viewpoints Browse Issues
Lists of topics with academic sources of information. AISG library password required. Please find the password in the Research Databases box.
Pew Research Group
A detailed listing of Pew Research Center polling and demographic topics and subjects
Procon.org
This is not a suitable source of information, but it could be a place to browse for a topic of interest. You can also mine the articles for links to more academic sources.
World Economic Forum Strategic Intelligence
Explore and monitor the issues and forces driving transformational change across economies, industries, and global issues. This is a visual search using categories and then drilling down to open resources about specific topics. You must sign up for a free account.

General Reference

IB Extended Essay Resources

2023 IB Extended Essay Guide
The official guide from the IB. It contains information on overall requirements, subject-specific requirements, tips for conducting research, and assessment information. IMPORTANT!
EE Exemplars
Student sample extended essays, corresponding marks and comments from senior examiners.
IB Extended Essay Homepage
Official IB website for Extended Essay resources.

Statistics Websites

19 Places to Find Free Data Sets for Data Science Projects
More sites to find data sets.
Ag Data Commons
Datasets from the US Department of Agriculture
AGRIS
Agricultural Science and Technology Information from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Earth Data
Open access data from NASA
Google Data Sets
A data set search powered by Google.
Knoema
Knoema is the most comprehensive source of global decision-making data in the world. Our tools allow individuals and organizations to discover, visualize, model, and present their data and the world’s data to facilitate better decisions and better outcomes.
The Observatory of Economic Complexity
The Observatory of Economic Complexity is a tool that allows users to quickly compose a visual narrative about countries and the products they exchange. It was Alexander Simoes' Master Thesis in Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab.
Pew Research Center Datasets
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. We do not take policy positions.
Statista
Statista Research & Analysis is a combined provider of market research as well as research and analysis services. We help corporate customers collect and prepare market, customer and competitive information.
Statistics Sweden
Our main task is to supply users and customers with statistics for decision making, debate and research. We do this mainly through assignments from the government and other government agencies.
United Nations Statistics Division
The United Nations Statistics Division is committed to the advancement of the global statistical system. We compile and disseminate global statistical information, develop standards and norms for statistical activities, and support countries' efforts to strengthen their national statistical systems.