Making the Most of Your Library

Part 1 -- Introduction to Research

Originally appeared in SF&FW Newsletter #123, December 1991

For permission to quote or reprint, contact Leigh Kimmel

This article originally appeared in Science Fiction & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter

What do you do when you discover that you need information on something outside of your specialty? You probably go to your local library and try to find the information that you need. But when you get there, how do you go about doing your research? Many people who come into the library do not know how to make the best possible use of their library. However the skills that would enable them to make the most of their library are easy to teach, and primarily involve introducing them to various sources that they usually donÕt consult.

What do I need a lesson in research methods for, you may be asking. Research may be fine for someone writing hard SF, who needs to check important scientific facts and principles. But I write fantasy, so I don't need to know all this. I just write from my own imagination.

That may be true, but even then you will probably still want to do research on objects and techniques that would be used in a pre-industrial society that are no longer common knowledge in our society. And almost everybody will want to make use of at least some language-related reference sources to improve our language. Further, knowing how to do effective research is important if one should decide to write non-fiction articles to help bring in some extra money.

Now that we all agree that it is important to know how to do library research effectively, we can settle down to examine some of the most common reference materials to be found in libraries. In the next several articles I will discuss the use of the various categories of reference materials that will be found in a library.

For permission to quote or reprint, contact Leigh Kimmel