Social Work

News Reports, Editorials, etc. 

• Nexis Uni (Formerly Lexis-Nexis Academic)
  The most complete database for newspaper, magazine and other popular press articles from 1990 to the present. Sources from all over the world are included. (Warning, the interface is not very user-friendly. But if you want to find a lot of news articles on a particular event or topic, this is the best place to go!)
  
  TO FIND OPINION PIECES: 
  1. Go to Nexis Uni
  2. Click on the "All Nexis Uni" link on the upper right corner
  3. Using the left-hand side bar, Narrow Down to
      > News
         >  Article Type: Editorials & Opinions
  4. Type your search words in the box at the top of the page where it says, "Enter terms, sources, companies..."
     NOTE: You may need to use the word "AND" in between your keywords if you are using more than one!
      
• Google News Search 
  Good, but really fragmentary, and it only goes back a few years. Easier to use than Nexis Uni. 
   

Demographics and other Statistics 

• U.S. Census: American FactFinder
  Use the "Guided Search" to find a huge variety of statistics about U.S. residents. You can find population breakdowns by age, gender, race, socio-economic status, etc. from the federal level down to a specific zip code.
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
  Includes facts about employment, joblessness, average wages broken down by region, and more. 
• County Health Rankings
  Includes reports ranking each US county. This site provides facts such as the percentage of people in each county who suffer from poor physical activity, long commutes, "severe housing problems," unemployment, etc. 
• CDC Fast Facts
  The Centers for Disease Control's "Fast Facts" site has statistics on a large range of public health issues, including statistics related to specific age groups (children, older people, etc.), Suicide rates (see under "Injuries"), etc. 
• Special U.S. Census Report on the Homeless (2010)
  "The Emergency and Transitional Shelter Population: 2010" includes statistics on people living in shelters, broken down by age, race, etc. 
• Land and Property Value Statistics (raw data)
  Includes data on property values for areas like Oregon or the Portland Metro area from the 1980s-2015, provided by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy at Rutgers. Warning: this is raw data in Excel tables, so you'll have to analyze the data yourself to get your own statistics. 
• Native Americans: "Fast Facts" from the U.S. Census (2015)
• List of more U.S. national statistics sources on crime and other social issues

Government Facts

• Oregon Blue Book
  The "Official State Fact Book about all levels of government in Oregon." Describes the duties of all state agencies, offices, etc.; provides links to Legislation; etc. Current info is online. For old facts (like, what committees existed in 1972, etc.) we have old printed Blue Books in the library. Similar sources exist for other U.S. states.
• FDsys
  Comprehensive database of US federal publications from the last 15 years, including legislation, directories, court opinions, etc. This is the online version of what was once the Government Printing Office.
• United States Government Manual
  Official handbook describes the function, structure, etc. of the parts of the federal government, such as the Department of Education, the U.S. Court of Appeals, etc.
• U.S. Election Statistics Resources
  Compilation of links to many different sources of stats on elections.
• World Factbook
  Authoritative statistics about countries around the world, compiled by the CIA. "Provides information on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities."