informative/persuasive speech Research Guide
The Informative/Persuasive speech assignment asks you to provide examples, statistics, and facts in your speech. The effectiveness of your speech will hinge on the credibility of the information you find and use. Below are sources that will help you find a variety of materials to support your argument.
Databases: Facts, statistics, background and current information
CQ Researcher
Weekly reports on topics of current interest. Reports include contact information for non-profit organizations and agencies, a bibliography, and pro and con arguments.
Issues and Controversies
Current in-depth information on the most prominent and hotly debated issues of the day. Don't have a topic yet? Use the "Need a Research Topic" feature to find ideas and narrow down broad topics.
LexisNexis Academic
Newspaper and magazine articles, including editorials and other opinion pieces.Boston Globe
1980 to present.Boston Herald
7/26/1991 to present.Polling the Nations
Results from over 12,000 surveys on a variety of topics. Limited to one user at a time.
Databases: Images, videos, multimedia
Accunet/ AP Multimedia Archive
Contains hundreds of thousands of photos and graphics from the Associated Press, most taken since 1995, plus historical images dating back to the 1800s.
Vanderbilt Television News Archive
Index of more than 30,000 evening news broadcasts from the major U.S. national broadcast networks, and more than 9,000 hours of special news-related programming including ABC's Nightline since 1989. CNN Evening News since October 1995 can be viewed online. 5 Aug 1968 to present.
Books
The following series of books are particularly useful for putting together an informative or persuasive speech. These series devote entire books to single topics. Titles in these series often present unique and interesting arguments on a topic. Search for these titles and others in the Library Catalog. A keyword search for “Contemporary World Issues” and media will find all media-related books in the series, including Violence in the Media, Media and Politics in America and Media and American Courts.
Contemporary World Issues
Reference Collection, call numbers vary
Individual titles, such as Hate Crimes, Violence in the Media, and World Poverty, include background information, further readings, chronologies, and more.
At Issue
Circulating Collection, call numbers vary
Opinion essays reprinted from newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals. Titles include Teen Suicide, UFOs, and Internet Piracy.Current Controversies
Circulating Collection, call numbers vary
Each volume focuses on a specific social, political, or economic topic, such as homeland security or animal rights.
Opposing Viewpoints
Circulating Collection, call numbers vary
Pro and con arguments on a variety of current topics, including human cloning, domestic violence, and drug abuse.
These reference books provide background information and statistics to support your argument.
Editorials on File [X] D839.E3
Editorials dating back to 1970 from newspapers across the United States.
Historic Documents [X] E839.5.H57
Presidential and congressional documents dating back to 1972.
Statistical Abstract of the United States [X] HA202.A75
Statistics from the U.S. census. Also available online at the Census Bureau website (http://www.census.gov).
Tutorials
Not sure how to search CQ Researcher or Polling the Nations? View these short tutorials and get tips on the most effective search strategies. Both tutorials include audio.
