If you are reading this, you probably need to find some kind of evidence or source to support claims or arguments in a speech for class. There are many places that you can find this kind of information, and depending on your topic, the information can be very different. This guide will attempt to get you started and show you some of the options you have to find information through the library.
Many professors will require you to use multiple types of sources. This page will demonstrate how to find books, scholarly articles, newspaper articles, and credible websites.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or need more detailed assistance, please feel free to contact Rachel Tait-Ripperdan or utilize any of the various ways to get assistance HERE.
For citation help, check out the Citation Style Guide or the FGCU Writing Lab website.
FGCU has many books both in physical and digital format. You do not need to utilize the entire book in order to use it as a source, but be careful not to take information out of context if you're only using a chapter or portion of the text. Some useful book series on current events and controversial topics are "Opposing Viewpoints" and "The Reference Shelf." To find some useful book series on current events and controversial topics, go to the Library Catalog and search for "Opposing Viewpoints" or "The Reference Shelf".
No matter what kind of source you use, you should always evaluate it, but this is an especially important step with websites! You can find out how to evaluate your sources using the CRAAP Test. You can tell a lot about a website by paying attention to its domain:
.com = Commercial website; general all-purpose sites that anyone can run
.org = Organizational website; primarily run by non-profit organizations
.edu = Educational website; usually run by college/university and affiliates
.gov = Governmental website; run by government entities
You can limit your search results to specific domains by adding it to the search. For example, if you add site:gov the results will be governmental websites.
Your professor may require you to use scholarly/academic articles or peer-reviewed articles. Scholarly/academic articles are published in scholarly/academic journals and are generally considered more credible than popular sources like websites and news articles. Peer-reviewed articles are a subset of scholarly/academic articles that have gone through a rigorous review by other experts in the field.
To find scholarly/academic articles, try the following databases:
To find peer-reviewed articles, try the following databases:
Newspaper articles are great resources for finding non-academic information on current events. Be aware that newspaper articles may carry more ideological bias than academic/scholarly sources as they are generally targeted toward their reader demographic. The Media Bias Chart provides one analysis of where news sources lie on the ideological spectrum.
To find newspaper articles, try the following databases:
