Getting Started
According to a report by the WMC Foundation (2020; the WMC Foundation is affiliated with Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce), rural Wisconsin faces significant challenges to its economic health and well-being. At the same time, some trends have emerged or have been accelerating as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic that benefit rural Wisconsin. For example, more people are moving to rural areas because of remote work opportunities, enhanced technological connectivity, and affordability considerations. The WMC Foundation identifies five challenges across the state for rural Wisconsin: limited rural workforce availability, rural gaps in broadband, stress on rural legacy industries, lack of new rural housing, and affordability of rural healthcare. As a group, review the report by the WMC Foundation and pick one of the presented challenges. Then research and identify the causes of the challenge, and develop a strategy that will produce positive, measurable outcomes for a town, city, region, company or industry in Wisconsin. In order to help ensure the strategy presented can be implemented in a real-world setting, be sure to connect with relevant stakeholders and integrate their insights into your project.
Background
Reference resources provide a starting point for your research projects.
Credo Reference
Credo Reference provides hundreds of encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, and more in one place. Below is a sample of keyword searches in Credo Reference related to this topic:
Call Numbers & Subject Headings
You can use the list of call numbers and subject headings below as keyword searches in our catalog and databases, or you can go to these sections of the library to find books on these topics.
- HC94-1085: Economic history and conditions. By region or country.
- HD28-9999: Industries. Land use. Labor.
- GF127 Rural Geography
Books
Books from Lane Library
All books in this list are located in the Franzen Center on Floor 3A.
- Challenges for rural America / HN59.2 .C43 2003
- The future of farming and rural life in Wisconsin / S129.F88 2007
- Growing up empty / HC110.P6 S327 2002
- Heartland / HD8073.S63 A3 2018
- How the rural poor got power / JS451.M69 R58 2003
- The left behind / HN59.2 .W867 2018
- Rural people and communities /HN59.2 .B753 2019
- Rural poverty in the US / HC110.P6 R8925 2017
- Social capital and poor communities / HM708 .S64 2001
- Those who work, those who don’t / HC110.P6 S47 2009
- Welfare reform in persistent rural poverty / HC110.P6 W43 2006
- The future of farming and rural life in Wisconsin : findings, recommendations, steps to a healthy future : a Wisconsin Idea Policy Program report of the Wisconsin Academy of Arts and Letters. / S129.F88 2007
- Rural America in a globalizing world : problems and prospects for the 2010s / e-book
- Scaling up : the convergence of social economy and sustainability / e-book
- Welfare reform in rural places : comparative perspectives / e-book
- Rural mental health : issues, policies, and best practices / e-book
Discovery Search: Search Lane Library’s books, ebooks, and articles in one place.
Books from other libraries
WorldCat: Search for books not available at Lane Library and borrow from other libraries for free through interlibrary loan.
Articles
Databases
The following databases are useful places to search for articles. Contact a librarian if you would like more information on how to search for articles on your specific topic.
- Academic Search Complete: Wide range of academic disciplines, including for scholarly and popular journals.
- JSTOR: Full-text archive of scholarly journals in the arts and sciences. Issues from the past three to five years may not be available.
- New York Times: Access to news and archival content from NY Times. If you run into a paywall, here is more information on how to sign up.
- ProQuest Research Library: Includes both popular and scholarly periodicals covering a variety of subjects, with over 3300 titles available in full text.
- ProQuest Social Science Journals: Social science topics.
Get articles from other libraries
If you cannot find a full-text version of the article you need, request it through interlibrary loan. Interlibrary loan is a free service that allows you to borrow books and articles from other libraries. Find answers to frequently asked questions about ILL here.
Statistics and Government Information
Government sources
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service: Rural Poverty and Well-Being
- usa.gov : Access to information from federal agencies
- wisconsin.gov : State of Wisconsin government information
- US Department of Agriculture–Rural Development
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Statistics
- CIA World Factbook : Background information on each country in the world
- Proquest Statistical Abstract : Statistics from federal agencies
- U.S. Census Bureau: Poverty Data
