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Non-Fiction Writers Workshop
by Carolyn Dekat
A Systematic Approach to Library Research
A solid foundation of facts separates a so-so article from a salable one. When you connect your ideas with accumulated wisdom that you've gleaned through experience, research, and your analysis and interpretation of facts, readers are hooked by the depth of your writing. The article becomes more penetrating and more satisfying to read.
Making research pay off is largely a matter of technique. With the right tools, such detective work becomes a craft. You can learn to track down facts quickly when you find a systematic approach that suits you.
Start with your brain! Take some time to think about your topic and consider the accumulated data you have from listening, observing, reading, or experience. Therein you can find leads to track down other facts.
Next make friends with a reference librarian. Many libraries offer free phone reference service. One quick phone call can get you enough facts for a query, and leads to flesh out an article. Librarians prefer one or two concise questions. They can also verify quotes, give names of standard reference books on your subject, obtain a list of organizations devoted to your subject, and help you define parameters of research on your project itself to enable you to use online data bases efficiently.
So let's move ahead to the library. There's all these rows and rows of books, magazines, newspapers, etc., etc. Where do you start?
First Stop: Magazines
Utilize these guides to help you locate magazine material on your subject:
- Readers Guide to Periodical Literature
- Access: The Supplemental Guide to Periodicals
- Index for specialized magazines like:
- Business Periodicals Index
- Psychological Abstracts
- Index Medicus
- Magazine indexes (check the December issues)
- Book reviews: check these for new books on your topic
Interestingly, Lisa Collier Cool reports that when you have a firm assignment from a magazine, you can sometimes arrange to get free review copies of new books on your subject by contacting the publisher's publicity departments and telling them which magazine you are writing for, the topic of your article, and the exact titles and authors of the books you want. A few publishers will automatically put you on their review list after that, giving you a stead stream of interesting reading and potential article material.
Next: Vertical Files
Your library carries files of booklets and clippings on selected topics. Ask for assistance or look on the library shelves with books on the same topic. Vertical files are sometimes kept at the end of a row.
On To: Newspapers
Learn how to use the newspaper index, generally on microfiche. Newspapers are great sources of facts, being terse and to the point. They can also provide names of local experts on your subject, as well as other leads.
And: Books
Magazines, booklets and newspaper articles are preferable because they are most up-to-date. Books have the potential to gobble up time, but there is a way around that.
When you access the card catalog at your library, note the general call number for the subject you're interested in and go straight to the shelf where that subject is housed, rather than skimming titles at the card catalog/computer. This puts all the books on the topic right at your fingertips.
The next step is to begin scanning the books that may be helpful. First read the flap copy and the table of contents, to see if there is anything there that relates directly to your subject. Use the index to find pages devoted to your topic, then read a page or two at random. If it appears the material is something that you can use, then spend the money to photocopy the pages you need and do your reading later; move on to the rest of your research. Don't forget to note footnotes, bibliographies, and the appendix where you may find new research leads.
Also check almanacs, yearbooks, and books of lists.
Last But Not Least: Government Publications
Check government publications such as:
- Occupational Outlook Handbook
- Monthly catalog of US Government Publications
- Congressional Records Index
- Government Reference Books
In Sell Every Magazine Article You Write, Lisa Collier Cool notes that you can receive a biweekly list of interesting new government publications by sending your request to:
- Superintendent of Documents
- US Government Printing Office
- Washington, DC 20402
That's just the library. Computer and CD-ROM libraries are another wealth of research material. More on those next time.
In the meantime, remember to stop when you have enough material! It is easy to get so involved with research that you waste time gathering material you don't use. But never, ever throw away research. It can be just what you need to re-slant and resell and bring in the $$$$.
Happy writing!
© 1998 Carolyn Dekat
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