Censorship Research Paper

BACKGROUND

Attempts by government or individuals to ban books, prosecute artists and writers for their work, shut down stores dealing in pornography, and restrict music lyrics are considered by many to be forms of censorship and an abridgement of freedom of speech.

BROWSE FOR BOOKS ON THE SHELF USING THESE CALL NUMBERS

363.31

323.4

LOOK UNDER THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS IN THE CATALOG (CARD OR COMPUTER)

Censorship

Censorship—United States

Freedom of the press

Freedom of speech

USE PAMPHLET FILE (ALSO CALLED VERTICAL FILE) UNDER THE HEADING

Censorship

REFERENCE MATERIALS THAT MAY HELP (BOOKS OR CD-ROMS)

CQ Researcher, February 19, 1993.

Green, Jonathan, ed. The Encyclopedia of Censorship, 1990.

Hurwitz, Leon, ed. Historical Dictionary of Censorship in the United States, 1985.

General encyclopedias

PERIODICAL INDEXES TO SEARCH (BOOKS OR CD-ROMS)

EBSCO Magazine Article Summaries

InfoTrac

NewsBank and other newspaper indexes

Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature

SIRS (Social Issues Resources Series)

WILSONDISC

ONLINE DATABASES TO SEARCH

America Online

CompuServe

Dialog

Internet

Prodigy
KEY WORDS AND DESCRIPTORS FOR PERIODICAL INDEX AND ONLINE SEARCHES

Censorship

Condemned books

Freedom of the press

Freedom of speech

Arts—censorship

VIDEOTAPES ON THIS TOPIC

Books Our Children Read. Films, Inc., 1984.

Damned in the USA. Gabriel Films, 1992.

Fahrenheit 451. MCA Home Video, 1985.

FICTION BOOKS RELATING TO TOPIC

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451, 1953.

Hentoff, Nat. The Day They Came to Arrest the Book, 1982.

Peck, Richard. The Last Safe Place on Earth, 1994.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO CONTACT FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

American Library Association, Freedom to Read Foundation, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60011.

National Coalition against Censorship, 2 W. 64th St., New York, NY 10023.

People for the American Way, 2000 M St., N.W., Ste. 400, Washington, DC 20036.

SUGGESTIONS FOR NARROWING THIS TOPIC

Discuss book censorship in schools and libraries.

Discuss censorship and the Internet.

Investigate censorship on campuses.

Report on a specific censorship incident involving books, art, or music lyrics.

Research talk radio and the censorship issue.

SUGGESTIONS FOR RELATED TOPICS

Freedom of the press

Movie rating system

Pornography

Rap/Rock music lyrics

This RESEARCH TOPIC GUIDE is intended to help the library user find information and materials on a particular topic in many sources throughout the library. Resources on this topic are not limited to those described and availability will depend upon the individual library. Feel free to ask a librarian for assistance.