• Where to Search
• Keywords
• Helpful Links and Guides

The purpose of this guide is to give an overview of research tools, databases, and search strategies that will be helpful to you as you complete work in your THSP 1090 Public Speaking course.

Take this tutorial if assigned. Make sure you save your Certificate of Completion PDF to upload into Canvas. 

Plan to search in multiple places.

Public Speaking research is very interdisciplinary. Use both Google and the library resources for a balanced approach to gathering perspectives and evidence.

Choose the Best Keywords

To get the best search results, you need to have good keywords. Picking the right keywords is an important part of the research process and can affect your search results.Keywords should represent the main concepts in the topic you’re exploring.

Things to keep in mind:

1. Do not use full sentences or questions. Instead, reduce the language you are using down to 2-4 major terms to describe your topic

2. Avoid misspellings

3. Academic language will yield more academic results

4. Overtime, language describing a topic might change. Example: 'capital punishment' and 'death penalty'. 

Where to Find Synonyms:

1. The Internet: Is your search term or concept called anything else? Look it up in an online encyclopedia to find out. For example, in the Wikipedia entry for "hypertension", the synonym high blood pressure is quickly identified in the opening sentence. Other results on Google should also show other language surrounding your topic.

2. Other background sources: You can also easily find synonyms in other background sources, including your lecture notes, textbooks, and print encyclopedias.

3. Use the Library Quick Search Results- all of the results you see will have good language describing each item, either in the Subjects, Summary, or Contents area once you've clicked on the title of something.

Example

1. Start with your research question:
   How do celebrities influence political campaigns? 

2. Sort out the major terms. In this case:  
   celebrities AND influence AND political campaigns

3. Make a list of synonyms and related terms for each of your major terms.

   Synonyms and related terms for the word celebrities:

   • actor or actress

   • musician

   • OR search for a specific celebrity (ex. Taylor Swift)

• Synonyms and related terms for political campaigns might include:

  • a specific campaign (presidential, local, etc) 

  • or campaign year (2008) 

Be sure to keep track of keywords & try different combinations as you go about your searching.

Data and Statistics Guide

Find data in library databases and freely available resources across disciplines, time periods, and geographies. This guide also provides strategies for searching for data beyond the linked resources.

News and Newspapers Guide

This guide allows you to find and search current and historical newspapers through the library's subscriptions.