Home > Research Guides > Speech/Communication
Get Started
Is your topic too big to cover in a short speech? Is your topic so specific that sources will be hard to find? Use subject encyclopedias in the Reference Section or online Reference databases (like Credo or Gale Virtual Reference Library) to find a topic, narrow your topic, find keywords, and get background information before you even start your research.
Find Your Sources
Find information on social issues and topics in the news. Start here for persuasive speeches.
- CQ Researcher
- Entire reports on topics with links to outside articles, books and reports. Double check report date for currency.
- Issues & Controversies
- Excellent overviews of selected topics with pro/con arguments. Double check report date for currency.
Find articles on any subject. Includes scholarly and popular sources.
- Academic OneFile
- Academic OneFile is great for peer-reviewed, full-text articles from the world's leading journals and reference sources
- Academic Search Premier
- This scholarly collection provides journal coverage for nearly all academic areas of study
- Discovering Collection
- Thousands of overview essays, critical analyses, biographies, timelines and multimedia elements in five core subject areas: history, literature, biography, science and social studies
Get focused results on specific types of topics.
- Health
- Health Reference Center Academic, Health Source: Consumer Edition, Health Source: Nursing/Academic
- Social Science
- PsychInfo, PsychArticles, SocIndex
- Science:Science Direct, Science Online, Scientific American Archive Online
Check here for current or local information— great for statistics and descriptive examples.
- Proquest Newspapers
- Includes Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, and Christian Science Monitor
- Newspaper Source
- Articles from regional and international English-language papers.
Find books and videos in the Library and eBooks and more online
- Do a Keyword search in the library catalog
- Found the perfect book? Use Subject Headings to find more like it
Web
Search for information from organizations, government sites and more.
- Not all web sites are suitable for academic research projects— remember to evaluate according to authority, purpose, currency and accuracy.
- Wikipedia isn’t the best place to get the information that will go into your final speech, but it can be a good starting point— use article References as a way to find other sources
- Remember: articles you find using the Library databases are not internet sources! Although you use the internet to access them, these articles are electronic versions of print sources and do not count as "websites" or web sources.
Evaluate Your Sources
Authority/Credibility: Who wrote this information and are they experts?
Purpose: Is this source informational or persuasive?
Currency: Is this source up-to-date?
Accuracy: Is this information correct? Is it based on fact or opinion?
Find Statistics
- Statistical Abstracts of the United States
- Reference HA202.U5 S93
- Social Trends and Indicators USA
- Reference HN60 .S62 2003
- Statistics Reference Sites
- http://codlibrary.org/Reference_Sites:_Statistics
- More Statistics Sites
- http://codlibrary.org/Speech_Web_Resources#Statistics
Cite Your Sources
- Citing Sources
- http://www.cod.edu/library/research/citenet.htm
- NoodleBib
- It does the hard work for you
Tips and Strategies
Research Fundamentals
Ask Your Librarian
Librarian: Jennifer Kelley
Office: SRC 3043A
Phone: (630) 942-2383
E-mail: kelleyj@cod.edu
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