Speech Communications Course

Before you begin to look for information, it is helpful to consider when and how information is published.

The following short video from Penn State illustrates this concept:

Information Cycle

Event occurs - newspapers, news websites, radio and television broadcasts, social networks.

Week or so later - popular magazines and other sources of news analysis.

Month later - professional magazines and more in-depth news reports and analyses.

Several months later - articles appearing in professional journals and conference proceedings.

Year(s) later - books, government reports and articles in scholarly peer-reviewed journals

What are some other examples of events that illustrate the information cycle?

September 11 Attacks Hurricanes Katrina & Wilma Obama election – Nov 2008 Today - Obama’s inauguration &

presidency

When you choose your research presentation topic, think about where you will look for resources.

Are you looking for news stories, scholarly articles, images, etc.?

Let’s look at FKCC resources available to you.

Catalog & Databases Obtain resources from other libraries Computers/wireless access Pay for print/copy Online help pages Ask-a-Librarian – online chat service Library and staff available to help you

Library Catalog

◦books◦e-books◦audio books◦materials from other Florida community colleges

◦materials placed on reserve by your professor

Library Databases

FKCC has access to over 85 databases - all free of charge to students with full text and multimedia.

Librarians can help you select appropriate databases to use for research.

Choosing a topic – how difficult can that be?

Databases can help you select a topic & find articles

News & Current Events 1. Opposing Viewpoints2. Issues and Controversies

Subject Databases – many to choose from

Let’s search the Library Catalog & Databases

Still need to find resources on the Internet?

Be sure to evaluate your sources

www.library.fkcc.edu