Public Speaking

Locate the Data You Need (^83)
Use your librarians’ expertise. Tuition dollars pay for library services, so tap into
your librarians’ extensive knowledge of the research process. Your library’s or learning
center’s website provides informative materials librarians have prepared such as research
tips, links to databases, subject-specific, topic-specific, or course-specific guides. Look
for “Ask-A-Librarian” features or for contact information so a librarian can answer your
specific questions.^6 Two types of librarians are especially helpful. Reference librarians
are the “go-to” people at the reference desk who are specifically trained to help you
find information, whether in hard copy or online.^7 In large academic libraries, subject
librarians have an advanced degree in a specialized discipline as well as a library degree.
Despite their availability, a recent study showed that only two in ten students consulted
a librarian in their research.^8 But who knows your library better than the people who
work there daily?
Identify key terms for your search. Your library’s Online Public Access
Catalog (OPAC)^9 lets you search for books by title, subject, author, and keyword. If
a subject search fails to produce usable titles, try a keyword search instead. Although
librarians are revising OPAC’s subject terms to become “more like Google,”^10 the terms
are still less flexible than Internet search terms. In addition, Internet search engines,
unlike OPACs, suggest alternative spellings and adjust to abbreviations.
Keep a running list of all sources as you search. This way, you can easily
assemble your final bibliography and return to a source when necessary. If you use the
Internet, bookmark each site you search. Carefully keeping track of each source also
helps you avoid plagiarism and credit your sources appropriately.
Make critical evaluation a part of your plan. So many resources are available
that you might think you’re drowning in data—some are highly credible, others are very
questionable. Find out as much as you can about every source you use, whether it be a
book, article, website, or personal interview. Then compare sources. Some will be OK,
some pretty good, and some excellent. Choose the best.
This is not an exhaustive list, but these tips will help you focus your search more
effectively.

Locate the Data You Need

After you have a general plan, your next step is to actually locate credible written sources

such as books, magazines, opinion pieces, and news reports, and nonwritten materials

such as information from personal experience, interviews, lectures, performances, and

media channels.

Use Written Materials

Written materials traditionally found in hard copy in traditional libraries and news-

stands are still there, but today they’re also in electronic databases and at Internet

sites. Consequently, research continues to change rapidly in the digital age; however,

libraries are still campus centers for information—sometimes renamed as “information

commons” or “learning centers.” Regardless of terminology, they continue to provide

carefully selected printed matter plus pictures, maps, and video and audio recordings in

various formats. Library materials have academic credibility because they undergo many

screenings by editors, librarians, and professors before they are acquired. In contrast,

Internet resources require more scrutiny because screened and unscreened materials

coexist there.

Regardless of whether you access library or Internet sources, look for books,

journals, reference works, news reports, and opinion pieces.

reference librarian librarian

at the reference desk who is

specifically trained to help

people find information

subject librarian librarian

who also has an advanced

degree in a particular subject

such as law or medicine

online public access

catalog (opaC) digital

catalog to help you locate

books and materials in your

library’s holdings

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