Course Guide: CMST 101 / 110
Search
You have a question, and you need information that will fit your needs. You are likely familiar with Google and Wikipedia, and both are appropriate to use for gathering background information on your topics. However, results from these resources often fall short, especially when you need authoritative sources for your speech. Finding such information will require persistence.
Persistence
Finding meaningful information for your speeches can take considerable effort. However, with the right approach, you can equip yourself to persist and reach your information gathering goals. So, what do we exactly mean by equipping yourself to "persist" in your information gathering? In brief, having persistence in searching requires an understanding of...
- what information you need to find,
- how to adjust a search if you do not get the results you need,
- and the best place to find that information.
Using the Appropriate Tools
Knowing where you can search for information can help you become a persistent and adaptable researcher. The following table sums up the differences between Google (or other search engines) and library resources.
 Google Search |
 Steely Library Reasources |
|---|---|
| ...is great at searching the web. | ...is great at searching for research materials. |
| ...does NOT search library databases or know what Steely owns. | ...does NOT search the internet or bring back websites. |
| ...is the perfect place to start your research, get ideas, learn about current events, find definitions, etc. | ...is the perfect place to continue and go deeper with your research to find sources by experts. |
Google is a good resource, and we even have some tips on the following page to help you make the most of Google while researching topics for CMST. However, there are many cases where Google will fall short. When this happens, it is time to utilize library databases.
Library databases are an organized collection of digital information where students and scholars can search for scholarly articles, academic publications, news, and magazine articles. NKU's Steely Library provides access to more than one hundred such databases! You will not ever need to use ALL these resources, but identifying databases relevant to your speech or paper will connect you with information that you would not otherwise be able to access.
Google Search Tips
Is there anything wrong with using Google? No! In fact, it can be the perfect starting point.
Watch this brief video (6:25) to learn some tips that will take your Google search strategies to the next level.
| Filter | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| " ... " | Double quotes require that the phrase is included in your search results. | |
| site:<address> | Tells Google to search only the specified website. | |
| * | The asterisk (*) is a wildcard. It can go in place of a forgotten word or even as part of a word with alternate or unknown spellings. | |
| AND | Boolean operator that tells Google the two terms should be found in the results it returns. | |
| OR | Boolean operator that tells Google that as long as one of the terms is present, to return the result. |
"america*" AND "gen z" OR "generation z" AND "political affiliation" OR "political party" |
| - | The minus or hyphen tells Google to exclude results that contain the term it is up against. |
bengals -"football team" -football -"cincinnati bengals" -NFL -games |
Note that if typing your filters directly into the search bar seems too difficult, you can also build in your filters using Google's Advanced Search.
Google search is an impressive tool! However, keep in mind that basic Google searches only scratch the surface. Many resources, such as what you can access through Steely Library, will not show up in basic Google search results since Google cannot bypass the login requirement. An exception to this rule is Google Scholar, which focuses on research articles and case law. However, even Google Scholar will not give you the full breadth of content you can access through Steely's resources.
Familiarizing yourself with a handful of Steely Library's databases will help you find quality information for your speeches. In the next section, you will find a list of some of these resources that are especially relevant to your assignments in CMST.
Research Tools for CMST 101 & 110
Visit the databases in the list below to find topics, narrow down your ideas, and get source material for your public speaking assignments. If you need help along the way, be sure to reach out to Steely Library for help!
Opposing Viewpoints
Browse nearly 500 topics relevant to health, business, culture, politics and more. Each topic will provide you with a compilation of various viewpoints from various sources (news, journals, websites, videos, etc.).
Issues & Controversies
Like Opposing Viewpoints, this database groups sources together by topic. Here, you can browse through hundreds of controversial issues to brainstorm ideas for your research in this course.
Access World News
Use this database to explore news sources on a wide variety of current and historical topics. Of special interest for this course is the Hot Topics section (found under Quick Links). This will present you with a list of news sources about popular/trending current issues.
CQ Researcher
CQ will give you access to in-depth news reports on current and historical topics. One unique feature of this database is that each report presents a relevant question that focuses on the content.
Statista
Excellent resource for statistics on a wide range of topics. Statista is easy to search, and also provides easy-to-trace sources for all data you encounter there.
Looking for images to use in your presentation? The following is a short list of suggested resources that will make it easier to find images that are properly licensed and easy to attribute.
- Wikimedia Commons
- Creative Commons Search Portal
- Google Images (use Tools > License Type to filter results to Creative Commons licenses)
- NYPL Digital Collections (historic)
- Public Domain Images Archive (historic)
When adding attribution for your images to a slide, remember the TASL method.
Title, by Author, from Source, License
As outlined by Creative Commons:
- Title - If a title was provided for the material, include it. Sometimes a title is not provided; in that case, you can ignore this part.
- Author - Include the name the author. It is also a best practice to link to the author's profile on the website you are using, if available.
- Source - Provide the source of the material so others can find it. This is usually a URL or hyperlink where the material resides. The hyperlink can be included in the title to make the citation more visually appealing.
- License - Remember that there are six different CC licenses; which one is the material under? Name and provide a link to it, eg. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ for CC BY.
The above text was borrowed from the Creative Commons wiki page on this method, which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
