Quick Guide

POINTS OF VIEW REFERENCE CENTER

The Points of View Reference Center (POV) is designed to assist students in understanding the full scope of controversial subjects.  Each essay includes a series of questions and additional material to generate further thought.  Also included are thousands of supporting articles from political and societal publications.

Getting Started

• Access from outside a library requires a username and password.  Contact your academic, public, or school librarian for the login information.

Searching

• Enter your search terms in the Find field or Browse by Category.
• Each category contains two or more topics. Click a Topic.
• View All Topics displays the complete list of topics available.

Your Search Results

• Points of View displays the Points of View tab containing four items for the selected topic. 
• Overview –general information about an issue
• Point – one argument or “side” of an issue
• Counterpoint – an opposing argument to the Point essay.
• Guide to Critical Analysis – helps you further explore an issue by  scrutinizing essay text, evaluating differences between fact and opinion, and researching  other perspectives.
• Click the All Results tab to display the complete Result List.
• To view a specific source type or images, click the appropriate tab.

Printing/E-mailing/Saving Search Results

· To save an article to the Folder, click the Add to Folder link.  To view the items in your Folder, click the Go to Folder View link.

• To save your results for future use, be sure to sign in to your personal account (Click on Sign In).  Once you sign in, your results are saved to the Folder, and can be retrieved at any time.
• From the Citation or the Folder view, click the Print , E-mail ,

or Save  icon and follow the directions on the screen. You can print, e-mail or save several results at the same time by saving them to the Folder, and then printing, e-mailing or saving all at once.

· When choosing any of these options, a Manager screen allows you to estimate the number of pages, enter the destination email address(es), choose from six citation formats, and access online help.

How to Use Help

· To view the Help System, click the Help link at the top right corner of the screen.

· When the Help link appears, you can click the link and help for the screen you are on will display.