1. 1 Gathering information Week 3

2. 2 More than interviewing Multiple sources allow you to check and cross check More interesting story Many places to look –Traditional sources –Computerized information –Computer data bases

3. 3 Traditional information sources The morgue –Clippings sorted by subject –Many are electronic by now

4. 4 Traditional information sources Other traditional sources –City directories –Telephone directories –Maps –Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations –Congressional Directory –Current Bibliography –Dictionary of American Biography –Facts on File –Guinness Book of World Records –National Trade and Professional Associations of the United States –Statistical Abstract of the United States –Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature –Webster’s Biographical Dictionary –Webster’s New World College Dictionary –Webster’s Third New International Dictionary –Who’s Who –Who’s Who in America –World Almanac and Book of Facts

5. 5 Computerized information Electronic morgue Public information utilities –CompuServe, AOL, Prodigy The Internet Commercial database services –Nexis/Lexis, Dialog Government databases Special-interest databases CD-ROMs Self-constructed databases

6. 6 Command of the search Full-text databases –Find a word or a combination of words where they appear –Boolean search comments –AND, ADJ Public information utilities –Chat rooms –Discussion groups –Ask questions, get answers, find sources

7. 7 Internet More information than you can ever use Attribute Evaluate the quality –Organization type.org,.com,.edu,.gov,.net –Commercial or not-for-profit sites? –Check the date of last update Good for background material

8. 8 Databases Commercial databases –Use all with care –Accuracy –Copyright laws –Not everything will be there Government databases –Old ones are on tape –Require lots of analysis

9. 9 Databases Special-interest databases –Groups with an agenda –Information may be unobtainable from other sources –Caution on use CD-ROMS –Encyclopedias –Dictionaries –Fact books

10. 10 Databases Self-constructed databases –Relational database programs Access, AskSam –Spreadsheet program Excel

11. 11 Making it work Where do you begin? Research topic, subjects. What sources would you use? Magazines, Academic Journals, Newspapers, Television, World Wide Web. How would you use those sources? Do enough research to become familiar with topic, but not enough to form an opinion.