We have all heard the term “fake news” floating around in the past few years, and it is definitely becoming a huge problem these days, especially on social media platforms. We have to ensure that we are spreading factual information, especially when giving a speech that is intended to inform other people about a subject. Therefore, when writing an outline for a speech, it is very important to make sure that the sources that you choose to gather information from are legitimate. In a speech that I recently gave about the history of radio, I used five sources. The paragraphs that follow explain where I found my sources, why I chose them, and how I incorporated them into my speech, as well as what information literacy means and why it is an essential skill to possess.
My first source was an article called “The Fireside Chats: Roosevelt’s Radio Talks”, which was written by a research intern named Margaret Biser. I found this source through the Google search engine after searching for the words “Franklin Delano Roosevelt fireside chats”. The reason that I chose to search for these words is because I went into this speech with a plan to discuss the impact that the invention of the radio had on the ability of United States presidents to better communicate with their constituents. I had prior knowledge about President Roosevelt and his frequent use of the radio to inform the public about important information and events, and I thought that it would be a great way to incorporate the aspect of communication into my speech about the history of the radio. I decided to use this source because one paragraph in particular contained a perfect quote to use in my speech. This article was found on the website for the White House Historical Association, which is “a private, non-profit organization founded in 1961 by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy with a mission to protect, preserve, and provide public access to the rich history of America’s Executive Mansion.” After researching the organization, I determined that this was a credible source because it is a long-standing organization dedicated to informing people about the history of The White House and the presidents that have resided there.
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The next source that I used was an article from the October 2001 issue of U.S. News & World Report. The article was written by Joannie Fischer, and it was called “The Radio Reinvented”. I found this source by using the EBSCOhost database, which I accessed from the Bucks County Community College website, under the library section of the website. I used the words “history of radio” to search through the database and it led me to this article. I chose to incorporate this source into my speech because it contained a few pieces of interesting and useful information about the invention and the history of the radio. I know that this was a reliable source because I found it through the EBSCOhost database, but I also deemed it trustworthy because it is an article from a well-known news magazine.
Another source that I used was a short biography on Gugliemo Marconi, the man that invented the radio. This biography was from the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, and I found this source by searching for the name “Guglielmo Marconi” on the EBSCOhost database. I used the information from this source in my speech because there was a lot of specific historical information about the invention of the radio. For example, it mentions all of the dates that major milestones were achieved by Marconi that led to his successful intercontinental transmission of a radio signal. I know that this was a reliable source because I found this source through EBSCOhost. Also, encyclopedias are scholarly reference books, so I know that they are credible sources to use when researching a topic.
The next source that I used for information in my speech was an article called “How Radio Changed Everything”, which was written by Guy Gugliotta. The article was published in the June 2007 issue of Discover Magazine, although I found the article on the magazine’s website after searching the words “history of radio” and “magazine” on the Google search engine. I used these words to begin my search because I was specifically trying to locate a magazine article about my topic, and I accomplished that goal when I found this article. I decided to use this article because it contained some historical information about the invention of the radio that was useful in my speech, such as information about the first commercial radio station in the United States. I decided that this was a credible source because it is a very popular scientific magazine that has been around for nearly thirty years, and it was originally created by the company that also created Time Magazine.
The last source that I used in my speech was an article written by Lori Cox Han called 'New Strategies for an Old Medium: The Weekly Radio Addresses of Reagan and Clinton”. This article was published in the Spring 2006 issue of Congress & The Presidency. I found this source by searching for the words “presidents” and “radio” on the EBSCOhost database. I searched for these words because I wanted to find more information about other United States presidents besides President Roosevelt that had used radio to communicate with the public, and that search led me to this article. I decided to use this source because it contained a lot of information about many other presidents that had used radio as a means of communication, including President Reagan and President Clinton. I know that this is a reliable source because I found it on the EBSCOhost database, but also because this article had an extensive list of references included.
Information literacy means that a person is able to successfully find information, determine the credibility and appropriateness of their sources and information, and then use that information effectively. These are very important skills for college students to have because we frequently have to research topics and write papers, and therefore, it is essential that we know how to properly find information and verify that it is factual and that our sources are reliable. Information literacy is actually a very important skill for everyone to possess, college student or not, because there is so much misinformation that is spread on the internet these days, and it is important for people to know how to evaluate their sources of information and determine what is fact and what is fiction.
For the speech that I recently gave about the history of the radio, I carefully selected five sources that were appropriate for my topic, I verified that they were credible sources, and then I effectively incorporated the information from those sources into my speech. In the preceding paragraphs, I have explained how and where I found each source that I used, as well as why and how I integrated each source into my speech. Clearly, information literacy is an essential skill to have, no matter who you are. Hopefully, we can all become a little better at evaluating our sources, so that we can greatly reduce the amount of “fake news” that we see on our computer screens in the future, or at the very least, ensure that we are not the ones contributing to the spread of misinformation.
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