Current News Databases
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Factiva This link opens in a new window
Full-text global news sources, including newspapers, newswires, television and radio transcripts, numerous regional and industry publications, and images from Reuters, along with financial data including business ratios. Content comes from ~160 countries in 22 languages. Only 3 Oberlin users at one time.
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Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
A wide range of news, political, legal, and business information from thousands of sources, mostly full text. Includes newspapers, magazines, wire services, federal and state court opinions, federal and state statutes, federal regulations, and SEC filings. News information is updated daily and wire services several times daily.
New York Times Pass
Oberlin College Libraries provides access to NYTimes.com (including news, New York Times Magazine, Wirecutter, and Cooking) to all current Oberlin College & Conservatory students, faculty, and staff.
If you are new to campus or have not previously registered for Oberlin's institutional NYTimes access, follow these steps:
- While on campus and connected to Oberlin’s network or while using the VPN, visit accessnyt.com.
- Create an account (claim a pass) using your @oberlin.edu email address.
- You have successfully claimed a pass when you see the "Start Your Access" screen.
Once registered, you’ll be able to access NYTimes.com by logging into your account from any computer, tablet, or device you use, including with the NY Times mobile app.
Students
When registering, you will be asked for your date of graduation from Oberlin. Your status will remain active through that date, with no need to reactivate/re-authenticate.
Faculty/Staff
You will need to re-authenticate annually, 364 days after you last registered/authenticated for your NYTimes.com pass. You may not reactivate your pass until your previous access has expired.
To reactivate your pass:
- While on-site and connected to Oberlin’s network (or while using the VPN from off campus), visit accessnyt.com.
- Make sure you are logged into the NYTimes.com account with which you activated your last pass.
- You will be granted a new pass and see the "Start Your Access" screen.
The new pass will be good for 364 days.
Evaluating Popular Non-fiction and News
How can you tell if the facts or analysis presented in a non-fiction source are accurate? The best practice is always to stop and think critically about the source - how and why it was produced, what evidence it is providing to support its claims, and how other sources present similar information.
The Source Evaluation Techniques Guide presents several step-by-step methods you can follow to evaluate individual sources.
In addition to those techniques, the more you know about publication processes and sociological context for different types of news sources, the better instincts you will have for how much critical investigation particular claims made in different sources require. The goal is to come to understand two things:
- Are the facts presented in the source accurate? To answer this question it is helpful to understand the publication processes for different types of news sources and to build skills in confirming information across multiple sources.
- What biases may be impacting the kinds of facts a particular publication deems newsworthy? To answer this question it is helpful to understand the ethical standards to which journalists hold themselves as a profession, as well as the sociological, political, and business context in which journalism is produced.
For more information and tips, go to our Evaluating Non-fiction and News Guide.