Basic Resources for Speech & English Composition

Introduction

Communication skills are fundamental. No one ever gets a second chance to make a first impression, and first impressions are largely set by how well you express yourself in speech and in writing. The most critical skill is communicating clearly and accurately. Once you've become comfortable expressing what you want to say, you can work on how you say it. Style is what sets you apart.

It's a good idea to start early. Most library work takes time. To complete some assignments, you may find it necessary to use interlibrary loan. If this is the case, be sure to plan accordingly, as ILL requests take ten days to two weeks.

It also to keep a record of where you get information as you go along–nothing is more frustrating than trying to compile a Works Cited list when you can't remember where you got your information!

Above all, don't hesitate to ask a librarian for help.

Suggested Print Resources

Newspapers, Journals and Magazines

General interest magazines and scholarly journals will be essential in your research. To find articles you can browse current and back issues. It is, however, more efficient to use an index.

ProQuest http://library.spokanefalls.edu/databases/index.stm#pq: ProQuest is the best general purpose index in the SFCC Library for a broad range of articles from 1980–present; the full text of many articles is provided online. This index is available from any campus computer; students who have Internet access from home can use this index with a current student ID number.

Although ProQuest is a fine index for most users, you should be aware there are many other highly specialized indexes available. If you decide to continue your education elsewhere, ask a librarian about indexes specific to your field.

Other good research tools include

Literary Reference Center http://library.spokanefalls.edu/databases/index.stm#lrc: Literary Reference Center covers literature, broadly defined (e.g., it also includes many non-fiction works). It can be searched by author, keyword, full-text, and so on. It includes the full text of many literary works whose copyright has expired. It's also a great source for literary criticism and assessment.
American Mosaic http://library.spokanefalls.edu/databases/index.stm#amo: American Mosaic is a full-text database on the history and culture of African and Latino Americans. It includes, among other things, more than 500 full-text titles, 4,000 interviews with former slaves, over 6,500 photos, illustrations, maps, and charts, timelines that allow users to explore African American or Latino history, and nearly 500 vetted web sites.
CQ Researcher http://library.spokanefalls.edu/databases/index.stm#cq: CQ Researcher is published about 45 times per year, and covers one topic very thoroughly in each issue. While the topic you're interested in might not have been covered recently, the online version goes back some fifteen years. The Library also has print editions in the reference section. CQ Researcher is listed under "Specialized Periodical Indexes" – you will need to scroll down to find it.
Opposing Viewpoints http://library.spokanefalls.edu/databases/index.stm#ov: Opposing Viewpoints provides full-text pro- and con- coverage of numerous topics. It can be browsed or searched. Also provides some access to magazine and journal articles.
eLibrary http://library.spokanefalls.edu/databases/index.stm#elib: eLibrary (formerly Electric Library) provides full-text articles from magazines and newspapers, book excerpts, and transcripts of selected television broadcasts. eLibrary is oriented toward K-12 students, but it contains articles that can't be found in ProQuest or other sources.

Be aware that many magazines and journals are geared toward a particular audience's beliefs, such that articles in them are likely to have a certain slant or bias. One would not, for example, expect to find a highly conservative article in The Nation, nor a strongly pro-gay-rights article in Commonweal or National Review. This does not make any of these publications "bad" sources: they simply don't represent all points of view.

Periodical Title	Point of View
Commonweal	Catholic
America	Catholic Jesuit
American Enterprise	Conservative
Human Events	Conservative
National Review	Conservative
Weekly Standard	Conservative
American Spectator	Conservative-Libertarian
Christianity Today	Conservative-Protestant
Dissent	Liberal
Humanist	Liberal
Nation	Liberal
Progressive	Liberal
Utne	Liberal
Advocate	Liberal (Gay/Lesbian)
Tikkun	Liberal Jewish
Commentary	Moderate Jewish
New Republic	Moderate to liberal
Christian Century	Moderate to liberal Protestant
Monthly Review	Socialist

The alleged point of view listed here comes from Magazines for Libraries by William Katz, or the University of Washington Libraries Web site.

Reference sources

Reference items are usually distinguished by having an "R" or "REF" before the call number. Reference works are especially good for statistical data, information which must be up-to-date (e.g., addresses and phone numbers), and for quick overviews of a topic such as one finds in an encyclopedia.

Items in a reference collection usually cannot be checked out, but you can make photocopies if you like. You can also browse similar call numbers in the circulating stacks to find books which can be checked out.

The following reference books are in the SFCC library; you might want to look around the same call numbers in other libraries for similar kinds of books.

R 301.0973 Statist	Statistical Portrait of the United States: Social Conditions & Trends
R 303.3809 Mitchel	American Attitudes
R 306.8509 Statist 1999	Statistical Handbook of the American Family
R 317.3 United	Statistical Abstract of the United States

Finding Books & Videos

The SFCC Library shares a joint online catalog with SCC at http://ccs.wash-id.net/ The catalog lists books, videos, magazines, journals, and other items held by one or both of the two libraries.

In addition, consider searching catalogs for libraries physically near you. Links to these libraries are provided at http://library.spokanefalls.edu/LibraryandCatalogs.stm

World Wide Web Resources

The World Wide Web has become increasingly useful for research. Since the Web is a new medium, using it for scholarly work requires caution.

Try to identify stable, reputable sources. Search engines return too many hits more often than too few. This is mostly due to a lack of proper indexing on the Web, and inconsistency among search tools. An excellent site which recommends various search tools for different purposes is

http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html

General information on search strategies is available at

http://GeorgeSuttle.com/teaching/websearching/

Look for sites that are kept up to date and which have an identifiable author or responsible party. You should be able to locate contact information easily (postal addresses, phone numbers, or at least an email address, ideally to someone more specific than "webmaster"). Individual or hobbyist sites are often entertaining and even authoritative for some subjects, but probably should not be your primary source.

Once you find suitable sources of information, you will need to cite what you use. Please consult our list of citation resources.

Suggested Sites

Finally, the following Web sites may offer useful advice and guidance:

Guides to the "How" of Writing

Garbl's Grammar Guides Online http://garbl.home.attbi.com/writing/grammar.htm: Claims to offer "everything you'll ever want to know about sentence structure and using the parts of speech correctly." This is one of a set of related, interlinked pages, all addressing topics of clear writing, punctuation, and communication in general.
Writing Handouts Listed by Topic http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/index2.html: The Online Writing Lab, or OWL, at Purdue University has dozens of handouts and guides available, both on matters of grammar, punctuation, and style, as well as on professional/business topics such as report writing, abtracting, resumes, cover letters, and so forth. A very useful resource.
Yahoo: English Grammar and Style http://dir.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Linguistics_and_Human_Languages/ Languages/Specific_Languages/English/Grammar__Usage__and_Style/: If the above haven't satisfied your itch for information, this lengthy list should keep your busy for awhile.

Guides to Topics and Resources

Open CRS: Congessional Research Reports for the People http://www.opencrs.com/: The Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress prepares reports for Congress. These reports are reviewed for accuracy and objectivity and are widely respected for being factual and non-partisan. They are sometimes a bit dry. Another source for CRS Reports, at the Univ. of North Texas http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/, allows you to browse reports by broad topic areas.
Public Agenda http://www.publicagenda.org/: Public Agenda claims to be the "inside source for public opinion and policy analysis." A pull-down menu on the lower left hand side of this page ("Public Agenda Issue Guides") allows you to obtain more information about broad social, medical, and political topics.
Rand Corporation: Public Policy Studies http://www.rand.org/pubs/online/: The RAND Corporation has been around for some sixty years as a nonprofit global policy think tank. It was first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces, but has since expanded to working with other governments, private foundations, international organizations, and commercial organizations. It is known for rigorous, often quantitative, and non-partisan analysis and policy recommendations. ("Non-partisan" of course depends on whom one asks; some associate RAND with the U.S. military-industrial complex, and it is often included in or peripheral to various conspiracy theories.)
Cato Institute http://cato.org/research/: The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank, founded in 1977 in San Francisco but now headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is sometimes associated with the Republican Party and conservatism in general, but "libertarian" is perhaps the more accurate term for its orientation. It has in recent years been highly critical of Republican administrations and politicians. This site provides extensive research papers and background information on various issues.
Brookings Institution http://www.brookings.edu/index/publications.htm: The Brookings Institution is a center-left think tank, based in Washington, D.C. It was once placed on President Richard Nixon's "enemies list" for its opposition to many of Nixon's policies, particularly in Vietnam. Through this page one can access its Policy Briefs as well as Analysis & Commentary.
Politix 101 http://www.politixgroup.com/politix101.htm: Provides links to significant political parties and to organizations based on their political leanings or affiliations. Good for background information and position papers.
Social Issues http://www.multcolib.org/homework/sochc.html: This page from the Multnomah County (Oregon) Public Library was "created to meet the needs of Multnomah County middle and high school students researching current social issues from multiple perspectives," and contains numerous topics as well as links to sites which be helpful in researching them.
Hot Paper Topics http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/Hot/hotindex.htm: Suggested topics and resources for each, compiled by librarians at St. Thomas University
Resources for Various Issues and Causes (Yahoo) http://dir.yahoo.com/society_and_culture/issues_and_causes/: A good page to browse for ideas; the links lead to other pages at the Yahoo web directory for further research on each topic
Resources for Various Issues and Causes (Google) http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Issues/": Similar to Yahoo's page, leads to Web resources– but these are not evaluated for quality, so caveat surfer.

For comments or questions about this page contact SFCC Reference Desk

URL: http://library.spokanefalls.edu/guides/eng101.stm
Last modified: Thursday, April 30, 2009 by GS