Читать книгу The theory and practice of argumentation and debate - Victor Alvin Ketcham - Страница 35

Current literature offers the most prolific field of information on subjects of general interest. This source of material is always available to the debater. His first efforts should be directed to finding out what this field contains that bears directly on the subject. With this object in view he should consult The Reader’s Guide, Poole’s Index and the Annual Library Index. Here he will find all the important magazine articles that have been written on any subject. The title of the article, the name of the writer, the magazine in which it is found, together with the date, volume, and page, are given exactly. This opens a great storehouse of information. In consulting these guides to periodic literature the investigator should exercise his ingenuity as well as his imagination in determining under what topics he will find his material listed. In investigating the proposition “Resolved, that Congress should immediately provide for an increase in the navy,” the student must not be content with merely looking up the articles found listed in the guide under the topic “Navy.” He should also look under “Battleships”, “Warships”, “Dreadnoughts”, “International Peace”, “Foreign Affairs”, etc. At the end of these lists cross-references to related subjects will be found and these should also be consulted.

The student should go over the list of articles carefully and make out a bibliography^[2] of magazine references. Titles of all articles which appear to have a bearing on the subject should be taken down in full. This process of going over the lists in search of pertinent articles should be repeated from time to time throughout the investigation, because as the student’s knowledge of the subject broadens he will get more clearly in mind the exact nature of the information which he requires. The bibliography will save much time in getting at the most valuable material in current literature.

2. A bibliography (as the term is here used) is a list of books and periodicals on any one subject with exact references to volumes, page, etc.

The student can now select from the great number of articles before him those which appear to be most valuable. The most valuable articles are those which (a) bear directly upon some main issue of the question and (b) are written by recognized authorities on the subject. If the writer of any particular article is unknown to the student he should consult “Who’s Who in America.” Here are arranged in alphabetical order the names of all the men in America who have attained distinction in any line of endeavor. In connection with each name there is given a brief biography which sets forth the positions that individual has held, honors which have been bestowed upon him, important work in which he has been engaged, and any other facts which might tend to give weight to his utterances. Foreign authorities should be investigated by consulting the encyclopedias, the Who’s Who volume (if available) of the particular country to which the writer belongs, or by referring to other prominent writers. Throughout the entire investigation “Who’s Who in America” should be consulted as an authority on the standing of men to whose work the debater wishes to refer. This method of using “Who’s Who” and the bibliography brings the student directly to the best sources of material which can be found in current literature.

As indicated above, the real criterion of the value of an article in a magazine is the standing of the man who wrote it. However, certain periodicals have come to be looked upon with such respect by students and scholars that all articles appearing in them are given considerable weight. This reputation which is sustained by certain publications results from the care with which the editors have selected the material put into the magazine. They have been careful to allow only capable writers to contribute to their periodicals in the past, and, we may assume (although this is sometimes a violent assumption) that this careful supervision will continue in the future. Moreover, the editorials of these magazines are looked upon as good authority. For the convenience of the student the following list of magazines is suggested as reliable sources of evidence.

(1) The North American Review.

(2) The Literary Digest.

(3) The Independent.

(4) World’s Work.

(5) Review of Reviews.

(6) The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

(7) Columbia University Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law.

The last two publications are somewhat different from the others mentioned in the list, but they are included because they are important and are usually available in libraries having the other publications enumerated. This list is not intended as a complete and exhaustive list but merely as a suggestion to the student in search of material. It is not intended to depreciate the value of any publication not included in the list. However, the student should beware of relying upon material found in any magazine merely because the publication poses as a magazine instead of as a newspaper or story book. Some of the popular magazines which appear to be manufactured for the sole purpose of being sold, make an attempt at sensationalism rather than truth. Such periodicals should never be relied upon as authority.

Another source of evidence found in current literature is the technical and professional magazine. Almost every trade and profession has one or more reliable magazines. In the fields of medicine, law, banking, contracting, engineering, etc., are many periodicals. Each offers articles by reliable writers on almost all phases of the particular branch of learning to which the magazine is devoted. Prominent among the technical magazines that may be quoted as authority is the Engineering News. This periodical offers much valuable material on all the important engineering problems of the day.

Magazine articles, outside of the technical and professional magazine, are usually written for the layman; hence the subjects are usually presented in a manner easy to understand. This is especially important to the student at the beginning of his investigation when his knowledge of the subject is limited. Simplicity of treatment and accuracy of statement combined with an almost boundless range of subject-matter make current literature a most valuable source of evidence.