Skip to Main Content

Speeches

This guide will help you find the text of speeches in proprietary databases and on the open Web.

Subject Searches

For best results, use the Library of Congress Subject Headings for your topic.  You can search these headings directly by using the "Subjects" box on UMD Discover's Advanced Search page.  Some representative subject headings for Communications are listed below.

  • African American orators
  • Speeches, addresses, etc., American
  • Political oratory -- United States
  • Public speaking

To find out what terms are LC subject headings, switch to the Classic Catalog and use the “Subject beginning with…” search.  Once you find a book on your topic, check the "Related Subjects" section of the catalog record to find more Subject Headings.  Follow the linked terms to find similar resources, or use them to revise your search strategies.

 

Tips for Searching

The search box for UMD Discover shown here can be found on the UM Libraries' home page: UMD Libraries.

Use UMD Discover to search for books, journals, government documents, and other resources owned by the University of Maryland Libraries. UMD Discover can help you discover materials that are useful for your research.

The basic search function is a key word search that matches your search terms to words in the catalog records in UMD Discover.  Enter key words related to your research to start searching.

A basic search is very broad and may return many results that are not relevant to your research. To refine your search and return more precise results, click on Advanced Search.  The advanced search options allow you to search by keyword, author, title, or subject, as well as to limit your search by fields such as library, year, format, or language. 

To do a “browse” search, i.e., to get an alphabetical listing of authors, titles, and subject headings for items in the USMAI libraries, click on “Classic Catalog” and use the drop down menu to select your search method.  Keep in mind that the Classic Catalog only returns results from the USMAI libraries.

 

Indexes & Collections

The following are collections of important speeches or indexes that will help you to find where important speeches have been published.

Finding Books