LibGuides: Comm 2010: Oral Communication (Mann Library Tutorial) NEW: Finding a Topic

Excellent Background Sources

CQ Electronic Library
CQ’s authoritative and balanced coverage of public affairs includes the CQ Researcher, CQ Weekly, CQ Public Affairs Collection, CQ Voting and Elections Collection, CQ Congress Collection and the CQ Encyclopedia of American Government. Includes increased
Vital Speeches
Database of speeches by important public figures back to 1934 in some cases.
PublicAgenda.org
Site dedicated to providing information on current public policy issues
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From Who We Are: "For over 30 years, Public Agenda has been providing unbiased and unparalleled research that bridges the gap between American leaders and what the public really thinks about issues ranging from education to foreign policy to immigration to religion and civility in American life. Nonpartisan and nonprofit, Public Agenda was founded by social scientist and author Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance in 1975. Public Agenda's two-fold mission is to help:

* American leaders better understand the public's point of view.
* Citizens know more about critical policy issues so they can make thoughtful, informed decisions."
ProCon.org
Provides pro and con arguments for various controversial issues; however, do your own evaluation of the reliability of the sources in context rather than relying on their star system.
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ProCon.org is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit public charity that has no government affiliations of any kind.

Our purpose is educational. We do not express opinions on our research projects ("issue sites"), and we believe that most people care about their community, their state and their country, have common sense and good judgment and can make better decisions if the large volume of data and rhetoric on an issue is reduced to a fairly and reasonably crafted pro-con presentation.

Our goal is to research issues that we feel are complicated and important and work to present them in a balanced, comprehensive, straightforward, and primarily pro-con format for free and without advertising on the internet.

Browse Popular News Sources

Google News and Yahoo News are great because they collect current stories from a range of newspapers and other news sources. For a more international version of this try Library PressDisplay.

You can also browse or search popular print publications online to find current articles on a range of topics. Examples include nytimes.com, usatoday.com, and newsweek.com. If you go through the web, you may not be able to get access to the full-text articles off-campus. To get around this, use the library's Passkey tool.

And, of course, most news sites allow you to directly browse their content online for free (although this may be changing). Examples include the BBC, Reuters, CNN, ABC News, etc.

2 Great Print Resources for Topics

Opposing viewpoints
This series covers controversial issues of the day on a number of topics. Try searching in advanced search in the Library Catalog for "Opposing viewpoints" and your topic as keywords.
Taking Sides: Clashing Views
The Taking Sides series of books presents pro and con arguments on various controversial issues

Finding a Topic

Topic, What topic?

Linked here are some suggestions on how to select a topic for your class research assignments.

Remember to narrow your topic sufficiently--if it takes you 5-7 minutes just to explain the issue your topic is too large. For example, instead of doing "affording college," try something more manageable like "Cornell's new financial aid plans in the next years in light of the economic crisis."

Also try picking something original, that hasn't been done a million times and that you are personally interested in.