Encourage In-Depth Research into Global Issues

With the advent of social media and the transformation of how today’s news is reported and instantly disseminated, Points of View Ultimate is a powerful tool for students learning how to engage responsibly with controversial and societal issues.

The database covers hundreds of debate topics, each with Overview (objective background/description), Point (argument) and Counterpoint (opposing argument) articles and a Guide to Critical Analysis to help the reader evaluate the controversy, read more critically, develop their own perspective, and write or debate an effective argument.

Sample Topic: 2024–2025 National High School Policy Debate Topic: Intellectual Property Rights

Topic Overview: Intellectual Property Rights
Point: The US Federal Government Should Significantly Strengthen Its Protection of Domestic Intellectual Property Rights
Counterpoint: The US Federal Government Should Not Strengthen Its Protection of Domestic Intellectual Property Rights

Topics Include

  • Tax Exemption for Churches
  • Racial Disparities in Health Care
  • Deep Sea Exploration
  • Online Gambling & Sports Betting
  • Neurodiversity Movement
  • Name, Image & Likeness (NIL)
  • Dark Money
  • Artificial Intelligence & Racial & Gender Bias

Points of View Ultimate provides more than 24 million full-text articles and documents. It offers a balance from all viewpoints with:

  • Cover-to-cover content from leading political magazines spanning the entire philosophical and political spectrum, from The Nation to National Review
  • Curriculum-aligned reference content and e-books
  • Historical debates and perspectives from Salem Press’s Great Debates in History and Defining Documents series
  • Newspapers and news transcripts
  • Primary source documents, including court case overviews
  • Blog content (including Pro Publica)
  • Engaging video from The Washington Post and other providers

Points of View Ultimate eBook Collection

Offered as a complimentary companion to the database, the Points of View Ultimate eBook collection contains reference e-books from top educational publishers and presses and offers a broad range of coverage on current issues and challenges in society. Selections include in-depth perspectives and debate on race, gender, animal welfare, citizenship and other essential topics. The collection also includes reference books on civics and government, financial literary and media literacy.

Curriculum Support

The content in Points of View Ultimate supports curriculum standards that ask students to analyze informational texts and hone their critical thinking skills. In addition, the interface includes the following features and benefits:

  • Reading level indicators (Lexile® Measures) that help educators assess the difficulty of a text and determine the appropriate grade level for student comprehension
  • Text-to-speech for HTML and PDF articles to help auditory learners, struggling readers and those learning developing English language proficiency
  • Curriculum Standards Module to help educators correlate EBSCO content quickly and easily to Common Core, state or provincial curriculum standards

Intuitive User Experience

Available through Explora, Points of View Ultimate offers a variety of features and functionality to support research success and productivity. In addition to simple and advanced search options and powerful filters, researchers have the ability to explore topics by these categories:

  • Censorship
  • Citizen’s Rights
  • Civics and Government
  • Crime and Punishment
  • Earth and Environment
  • Energy and Conservation
  • Family Issues
  • Foreign Policy and Relations
  • Global Issues
  • Government Funding
  • Health and Medicine
  • Immigration
  • Labor and Economics
  • Media and Communications
  • Medicine and Ethics
  • National High School Debate
  • People and Society
  • Race and Culture
  • Religion
  • Schools and Education
  • Sports
  • Technology and the Internet
  • Voting and Elections
  • War and Peace
  • Women’s Issues

Each category breaks down into subtopics that are logical for all users and friendlier to younger or novice researchers.

Visit the Explora page to learn about additional features, functionality and integrations.