Library Resources
Greetings! I'm honored to be your personal librarian for ENG 1030.
I can help you pick a topic, help you cite in your speech or answer any other question. Seriously. I got you!
The library is now offering online research appointments: click here to book an appointment
Sarah Naomi Campbell| scampbell@jwu.edu | 401-598-5019
Did you know you can also chat or text with a librarian? It's anonymous and super fast!
Book an online appointment with a JWU Writing Coach:
Whether you're just getting started or need final editing advice, peer-to-peer and professional writing coaches are super kind and trained to help you at any stage of the writing process.
Book an appointment online via USucceed: In jwulink, click Academics tab, then Usucceed, and then Writing Lab.
Did you know you can also submit your paper online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to Smarthinking for seriously awesome feedback within 24 -48 hours? It's FREE! Look for the link in jwulink, under the Academic tab, under Tutoring.
The informative and persuasive speeches will be delivered on the same topic. Your first step will be to select a question of fact, value, or policy for the persuasive speech. Choose a topic in which you hold a sincere interest, because you will spend much of this course working on it. Ensure that the topic you select has at least two sides or perspectives.
The goal of this speech is to inform your audience about the facts, history, or other relevant details surround a question of fact, value, or policy. You need FOUR sources.
Wondering how to get started on your persuasive speech? No worries! Your first challenge is to choose an interesting topic, and then focus in on the most fascinating angle.
Use Opposing Viewpoints to search for controversial articles on specific angles on BOTH SIDES for your research paper. Looking at both sides of a topic makes whatever side you take even stronger, because you can argue a more balanced point of view.
Pro-Tip: Choose Browse Issues to choose from legit hundreds of topics.
Looking for credible statistics? Use Statista for fast, compelling statistics to cite in your paper. Statistics on 60,000 topics in just a click of a button!
- Statista This link opens in a new window
- Statistics, reports, and visual data for a range of topics, countries, industries, trending topics, and more
- NOTE: Click through any security warnings & pop-up blockers that may appear
- Expert tools options are unavailable
Looking for research on your Informative Speech? We can help!
This is a great place to start:
- Scholarly/ Peer Reviewed articles
- Trade Publications
- Magazines and News articles
- Company Information
- Statistics
Pro-Tip: Click Full Text on the left hand side so you can read everything online right away, and look for the Cite button to copy and paste citations (and save a ton of time!)
Reporting & analysis of issues in the news
Over 15,000 streaming videos 24/7. Watch Archival Films & Newsreels for important events and interviews with influential people in American culture & history.
Need research on controversial topics? This database is your friend. Support your point of view on a controversial issue with facts and statistics from primary and government documents, photos, and magazine & newspaper articles which have already argued your case.
Pro-Tip: Choose Browse Issues to choose from legit hundreds of topics.
Looking for statistics to quote, FAST? Check out this awesome database! Just toss in your search term, and you're good to go.
Using Google can be really helpful when you're doing research for your speeches, especially if you use these quick tips!
1. Change the "Domain"
- Looking for Government information? Use .gov in your search
- If you search "Statistics on the economy" site:gov, you'll find government sites focusing on the economy, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Looking for Education resources? Use .edu in your search
- If you search "statistics on the economy" site:edu, you'll find academic sites focusing on the economy, such as articles from colleges and universities.
- Looking for Non-Profit research? Use .org in your search
- If you search "statistics on the economy" site:org, you'll find non-profit sites focusing on the economy, such as the United Nations Statistics division.
2. Put your search in "Quotes"
- If you're searching for more than one word, use quotes to search as a phrase.
- EX: "Student Loans"
- A Google Scholar search will bring you lots of academic results, and it is a great place to start.
- If you can't read the articles online, let us know and we'll find the Full Text for you!
For more detailed MLA citation information, head over the OWL.
Best Practices for Citing Sources in Presentations
Why do I need to cite my sources in a presentation?
• Credible sources show that you have done your research and reinforce your own credibility.
• Giving credit to your sources links you to an ongoing scholarly conversation. By identifying where you got your ideas, you enable your own readers to find the sources that you used if they want to learn more.
• JWU's Academic Honesty Policy lists plagiarism as a violation of University policy, as well as one of personal integrity.
How do I cite my sources in a visual presentation?
• Include a citation for any content, quotes, or ideas from another source. The citation should be located either next to the information or below it.
Citing Sources in a Speech
Citing sources within a speech is a three-step process: set up the citation, give the citation, and explain the citation.
First, you want to set up your audience for the citation. The setup is one or two sentences that are general statements that lead to the specific information you are going to discuss from your source. Here’s an example: “Workplace bullying is becoming an increasing problem for US organizations.” Notice that this statement doesn’t provide a specific citation yet, but the statement introduces the basic topic.
Second, you want to deliver the source; whether it is a direct quotation or a paraphrase of information from a source doesn’t matter at this point. A direct quotation is when you cite the actual words from a source with no changes. To paraphrase is to take a source’s basic idea and condense it using your own words. The following is an example of both:
Direct quote:
"In a 2009 report titled Bullying: Getting Away With It, the Workplace Bullying Institute wrote, “Doing nothing to the bully (ensuring impunity) was the most common employer tactic (54%).”
Paraphrase:
"According to a 2009 study by the Workplace Bullying Institute titled Bullying: Getting Away With It, when employees reported bullying, 54 percent of employers did nothing at all."
You’ll notice that in both of these cases, we started by citing the author of the study—in this case, the Workplace Bullying Institute. We then provided the title of the study. You could also provide the name of the article, book, podcast, movie, or other source. In the direct quotation example, we took information right from the report. In the second example, we summarized the same information.[3]
The final step in correct source citation within a speech is the explanation. One of the biggest mistakes of novice public speakers (and research writers) is that they include a source citation and then do nothing with the citation at all. Instead, take the time to explain the quotation or paraphrase to put into the context of your speech. Do not let your audience draw their own conclusions about the quotation or paraphrase. Instead, help them make the connections you want them to make. Here are two examples using the examples above:
Bullying Example
"Clearly, organizations need to be held accountable for investigating bullying allegations. If organizations will not voluntarily improve their handling of this problem, the legal system may be required to step in and enforce sanctions for bullying, much as it has done with sexual harassment."
Aha! Example
"As many of us know, reaching that “aha!” moment does not always come quickly, but there are definitely some strategies one can take to help speed up this process."
Welcome to JWU Online!
As an online student, the library has many resources tailored just for you.
In addition to online databases, e-books, and scholarly journals, as online students, you also have your very own Writing Specialist.
To take advantage of this extremely useful resource, simply visit JWU College of Online Education Student Writing Support online and make an appointment to check out all the ways personal writing support can make a difference in your educational success!
Need research help for your speeches? Reach out to a librarian for fast and easy support.
Take a peek at the video below for the Top 5 Tips on how the JWU Online Library can help you!
