Using Your Own Knowledge and Experience

Personal experiences, anecdotes, stories from your or someone’s life you know personally

GATHERING MATERIALS for the SPEECH

LIBRARIESPublic librariesSpecialized libraries

College/university Law, medical, business Organizations

Remember: Librarians Are Your Friends!

They can

keep you

from going

crazy…

Catalog

Listing of all books, periodicals, and other resources owned by a library

Periodical DatabaseResearch aid that catalogues articles from journals or magazines

Abstract

Summary of an article, written by someone other than the original author

Reference Work

Work that synthesizes related information for researchers

Types of Reference Works

Encyclopedias Dictionaries Quotation books Biographical aids Atlases

Internet Search Aids

Search EngineA search aid such as Google that indexes Web pages and checks them for sites that match a researcher’s request.

Virtual LibraryA search aid that combines Internet technology with traditional library methods of cataloguing and assessing data.

Evaluating Internet Documents

When you step into the

Internet, don’t leave

your brain

at the door!

KEEP IN MIND…….. Authorship Sponsorship Recency

Interviews

What’s your purpose? (don’t waste their time or yours)

What are your questions? (avoid closed-ended, leading, hostile, stupid questions)

How will you transcribe the information? (notes vs. tape-recorder)

BE FLEXIBLE!!

Research Tips

Start early Make a preliminary bibliography Take notes efficiently Don’t get sidetracked Distinguish between direct

quotations, paraphrases, and your own ideas