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Researching Current/Controversial TopicsThis session provides a basic introduction to Ingram Library's online research environment, highlighting the electronic tools necessary for finding books, articles, and other materials useful in preparing for a persuasive speech. The class also takes students through some of the initial stages of the research process, from topic selection to search query development. Students will learn how to navigate the library's website, search the catalog, and access databases that are appropriate to their research topics.FINDING A TOPIC FOR YOUR SPEECHThere are many subjects about which reasonable people disagree: that's part of what makes life so interesting! You may already have a topic in mind that you really care about.... but if you don't, here are some websites that will help you get ideas.Great list from the University of Southern Indiana! St. Ambrose University Library Hot Paper Topics (includes some links to sources of information too!) Santa Ana College list of controversial issues + links to information on those issues Public Agenda: issues of importance to all Americans Other Suggestions for finding a topic: few years that has made you realize you have a strong opinion about something? Once you have identified a topic, you might find it useful to get some general background by reading up on your topic in a source such as an encyclopedia. A good one to choose would be the Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. FINDING BOOKSBooks can be an excellent source of information on a variety of topics, but they are usually not up-to-date enough for a current/controversial topic--because it normally takes about 2 years for a book to get written and then published. However, sometimes you get lucky and find a brand-new book in the Library that's on your chosen subject.The first place to find books is the Library's online catalog. If you are looking for a specific book, the best place to begin is Exact Search, using the AUTHOR or TITLE of the book you are looking for. If you do not have a particular book in mind, then you can begin with a KEYWORD search, and if you are looking for something on a current/controversial topic, you will probably want to narrow your search to include only books published within the last 2 or 3 years. If you can't find anything on your topic in the Library's catalog, it may be because you are looking under too narrow a subject. Remember that books are a lot longer than journal articles, often cover many topics, AND the individual chapters are NOT indexed in the Library catalog--so think BROAD when looking for books...think about whether--realistically--an entire book could be written about your subject, or whether it's probably part of some larger topic. If you still can't find anything in the Library catalog on your subject, or can't find enough material, here are 2 other things to try: FINDING JOURNAL ARTICLESJournal articles will usually be a main source of information for your project. The first thing you need to do before you get started is obtain the current Library/GALILEO password, so you can access the information you need from wherever you are working. Although the password is not needed if you are researching while on-campus, chances are, at some point, you'll need to work from somewhere else. Also, the password changes every semester, so you need to know how to get it so that you can always access the databases you need.Journal articles are indexed in databases or print indexes, but you need to find the right one(s) in order to locate journal articles on your topic. CQ Researcher Explores a single hot issue in the news in depth each week. All Full-Text online! Lexis-Nexis Academic Good because it indexes so many newspapers; newspapers have editorials and columnists, which means opinions! All Full-Text online! Academic Search Complete @ EBSCOHost Covers all subjects, full-text database. Research Library @ ProQuest Covers all subjects, full-text database. Ethnic Newswatch Full-text collection of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press. Every database is different, but here are some general tips which usually work with any of them.
2. Look over the titles of the articles that were retrieved, and when you see an article that seems relevant, click on the title so that you can view more information about it. 3. Next, look for Subject Headings or Descriptors assigned to the article. If you find some that seem to describe your topic very well, re-do your search using those specific descriptors or subject headings to get articles that are more closely-focused and appropriate for your subject. 4. Always: try the HELP to get tips on effective searching in the database you are using--every database has HELP THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE INGRAM LIBRARY WEBSITENOT on GALILEO! Instead, click on Databases so you can see all the GALILEO databases PLUS the ones that West Georgia has paid for! Guides & Tutorials > Course-Specific Guides. page, then Interlibrary Loan. |
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Library Ask-a-Librarian http://www.westga.edu/~library/depts/li/tutorials/current.shtml Last Modified: 22 October 2007 |