By Sarah Stone Watt, Ph.D.
Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Combine multiple forms of evidence to support your ideas.
- Differentiate between the three types of testimony, and know when to use each one.
- Navigate the library holdings and distinguish between the types of information found in each section.
- Evaluate source credibility and appropriateness for your speech.
- Explain plagiarism and implement strategies to avoid it.
- Apply chapter concepts in review questions and activities.
Chapter Outline
- Introduction
- Personal and Professional Knowledge
- Personal Testimony
- Interviews
- Library Resources
- Books
- Periodicals
- Full Text Databases
- Internet Resources
- Search Engines
- Defining Search Terms
- Websites
- Government Documents
- Evaluating Information
- Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism
- Style Sheets
- Plagiarism
- Conclusion
- Module Activities
- Glossary
- References
Introduction
I take what I see work. I’m a strict believer in the scientific principle of believing nothing, only taking the best evidence available at the present time, interpreting it as best you can, and leaving your mind open to the fact that new evidence will appear tomorrow. – Adam Osborne
In 2010 celebrity chef Jamie Oliver won the Technology Entertainment Design (TED) Prize for his “One Wish to Change the World.” In addition to a monetary award, he was given 18 minutes at the prestigious TED Conference in Long Beach, CA to discuss his wish: “Teach every child about food.”[1] This chef from Essex, England, had only a short window of time to convince an American audience to change their most basic eating habits. To get them to listen he had to catch their attention and demonstrate his credibility. He managed to do both using compelling research. He began by saying, “Sadly, in the next 18 minutes . . . four Americans that are alive will be dead from the food that they eat.”[2] He magnified the problem with a chart showing that many more Americans die from diet related diseases each year than die from other diseases, or even from accidents and murder. Along with the statistics, he offered testimony from people living in the “most unhealthy state in America.”[3] By weaving together multiple forms of research over the course of his brief talk, Oliver crafted a compelling case for a massive shift in the way that Americans teach their children about food.
Like Oliver, in order to give an effective speech, you will need to offer support for the ideas you present. Finding support necessitates research. Librarians have found that professors and students tend to have very different ideas regarding what it means to conduct research.[4] Professors, who regularly conduct scholarly research as part of their occupation, tend to envision a process filled with late nights in the stacks of a library.[5] Students, who regularly conduct research on where to eat or what to do as part of their weekend activities, tend to envision a less formal proce