1. Think about your topic. What's your umbrella term? How can you put your topic into one or two keywords? For example, if my speech is about the opiate abuse scandal in the Midwest, my umbrella topic would be opiate abuse. Or Oxycontin. Or prescription drug abuse.
2. Search for your umbrella term in Gale Ebooks. For a short speech, you may be able to find all your sources in this one reference ebook database. Don't forget to copy the rough draft APA citations of each article into a references page.
3. Search ProQuest (database page) or EBSCO Discovery (main search box) to find ebooks or journal articles about your topic.
4. Use more subject-specific databases, if needed. Researching a persuasive topic? Try Opposing Viewpoints or Issues & Controversies on the Database page.
5. Don't be afraid to switch up your keywords. Find better keywords in the articles that you are reading. Be specific--the more specific your topic, the better! It makes it easier to find resources. Use quotation marks around phrases when you search, like "Harrison Ford" actor or "private school" dress code.
In the library, there are two main tools we use to find information.
Library Catalogs are what we use to find books, DVDs, CDs, and any other physical item that sits on our shelves. Catalogs don't provide the actual information itself, but just point to something that the library physically owns. Lake Land College Library uses a catalog called SHARE. This catalog is used by the entire Illinois Heartland Library System, and includes more than 400 libraries in Illinois.
Library Databases make up the library's online resources. They count as non-Internet sources but they give you the full-text of articles from published magazines, journals, newspapers, and reference books.
