JUAD 144: Introduction to Justice & Society: Find Articles

This database includes full text coverage of 150+ major U.S. newspapers. Search this database to find newspaper articles about the criminal charge you have chosen to research. 

Here are the steps to finding an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune online in the McFarland Library database Newsstream:

• Go to the McFarland Library homepage (www.smsu.edu/library)
• Click on the tab for A-Z database list, then click the dropdown and choose 'Newsstream: US News Sources'
• Click the Publications tab 
• Type in Star Tribune
• You will get a list of five publications--click the one with the thumbnail that looks like a flag
• You can 'search within this publication'--you type in the type of crime you are looking at for that week: for example, burglary.  OR
• Browse through the list by the most current date to find an article that looks like someone got charged with a crime--read the article to make sure someone was charged (and with what!)
• Use an article that was published in the last 6 months. The crime can have occurred earlier.

Think about the search term you've chosen. If you don't get the results you expect, try using a related search term.

• When you're searching in the newspaper database, keep in mind the term a lawyer might use could be different than what the newspaper editor chooses to write in the article.
   
• For example, you might try using the term homicide instead of murder, or "drunk driving" instead of driving while intoxicated.

Don't forget:

• Your article must be current--no older than 6 months ago.
• It is recommended you search the Star Tribune for a crime that occurred in Minnesota, so you can use the Minnesota Statutes. Be careful: not all crimes reported in the paper happened in Minnesota!
• Make sure someone was charged with the crime you are looking up

You can browse through a print newspaper to find an article.

• The Local or Metro sections of the paper will likely yield the best results.  The Sports section would have crime articles if the crime involved an athlete, and the front page carries major stories (though you have to pay attention to see what state the crime was actually committed in). 
   
• Print newspapers for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press are available on the Main floor of the Library, as well as The New York Times.  Feel free to browse through them.  Don't cut from the papers!  Scan or photocopy, please!