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CMST 220 Public Speaking: Finding articles

This guide is to help you find good topics and evidence for your Informative or Persuasive/Position speeches in CMST& 220: Public Speaking.

Where should I look?

One tool that will help you find articles on your topic is a database.  One of the most versatile databases, Academic Search Complete, is modeled below to the right.  Google Scholar is not one of the library's databases, but is sometimes helpful.

Need Scholarly Articles?

Is your instructor asking specifically for "scholarly" or "peer-reviewed" articles as part of your speech resources? 

Learn how to identify and locate these articles with our "Scholarly Journals" research guide: 

Source: "What are the library databases and which one should I use?" by NEIU Libraries, is licensed under a Standard YouTube License.

Learn how to identify library databases and choose the appropriate database to use for your topic.

Example Search:

screenshot from Ebsco's Academic Search Complete

Advanced searching


Using the Advanced Search feature in a database allows you to use more than one keyword or phrase (search terms) in order to get more relevant search results.  You can also narrow by date and type of search. Here's a screenshot from the ProQuest database that explains:

Google Scholar

Google Scholar retrieves scholarly/research/academic/peer-reviewed articles. Google Scholar can be used to search for peer-reviewed articles and books on your topic. IF the article is available full-text on the web, Google Scholar will include a link-- but this is rare. You can also use Interlibrary Loan to have a PDF of the article or a physical book sent to Holman Library from another library's collection, and this service is available for current Green River students and staff.

Interlibrary loan takes about 3-4 business days for an article request (and we will usually email the article to you). Loan requests for books may take 2 weeks or longer to complete (because the physical item has to come through the mail and you will pick up the book at Holman Library)-- so make sure to plan ahead if you request items using Interlibrary Loan!


 


Example Google Scholar Results:

Google Scholar results

 

Still can't find an article for your topic?