Library Day

Today my class gathered in the library to learn how to gain access to public records using the USF library databases. Cheryl McCoy led the presentation and gave everyone who attended a detailed walk-through on the USF library website. One thing I loved about the walk-through is that we were all seated in front of a computer and could follow Cheryl so we could access the information on our own. Another thing I enjoyed was the fact that if I ever get lost on the website Cheryl’s contact information is literally on the right side of the screen. The databases for our Public Affairs Reporting class are broken up into three tabs on the top of the screen: Information on Florida public records & open government, locating public records, and newspapers. I really feel that this will help me when I am searching for information about the person I have been assigned. It amazes me that all this information has been on our USF website this whole time. I wish I had known about these databases when I first arrived to the university. It would have made doing research papers a whole lot easier. I didn’t understand the difficulty in finding the resources needed to gain the information we need on our individual. I feel that all of these field trips and even the library website are helping all of us gain real life knowledge on how to find public information on anyone. The fact that we have an unknown individual is the perfect test. This way when we are faced with a news story featuring another unknown individual we can take all the practice experience we have gained in this class and apply it to our careers. Even if some of us don’t continue on the path of broadcasting or journalism, I feel everyone will walk away from this class learning multiple new things.