Aside from the aid you . may be fortunate enough to get from friends, you will need practice in handling library catalogues and tables of contents. You should know where to find, and how to use, records of public debates. You should have access to The Congressional Record, standard histories, periodicals, and some of the best daily papers. Poole's "Index to Periodical Literature"l is an invaluable aid in consulting magazines and will be found in most libraries. If you are to have weight as speakers, you must not only quote recognized authorities but be careful to take references and quotations at first hand, if possible, and to quote them accurately. Your audience has a right to expect you to tell definitely the source of your citation. It is not enough, for example, to attribute something to Webster; you should add the name of the speech. In general, you are to give information enough to enable anyone to verify your quotations with ease. If, as you take notes, you jot down the references to your sources, you will not be embarrassed afterward by wondering who your authority was.

1 This is now published under the title "Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.'1