I recently gave workshops on Research for Writers, (at Women Writing the West and Surrey International Writers Conference) and rather than do printed handouts, I am posting all the information here so it is readily available and clickable.
Library Love
Librarians to follow on Twitter: @surlyspice, @superwendy
Bowling Green State University Pop Culture Library @BGSU_PopCultLib
BGUS also has an “Ask Us” feature on their website.
New York Public Library: @nypl and @askNYP
This hashtag on Twitter can be a great way to find answers to really obscure research questions: #AskALibrarian
Finding Research Books:
Library books:
Ebooks:
A caveat and caution here—not all the books you may find via these links are legitimate legal copies. Always use caution when downloading books, and use to due diligence to ensure that it is available in the public domain.
To Purchase:
Databases:
Check your local library’s online offering of databases—many will be accessible without having to pay. Some popular ones include:
Archives/Museums
- American Heritage Center
- New York Public Library
- UK Parliment Archives
- National Museums of Canada
- US National Archives
- Smithsonian
- Lehigh University This digitally accessible collection represents a range of lives — from ordinary citizens to Presidents, literary luminaries, movie stars, soldiers, and politicians.
- Europeanaeu Also has a wonderful Twitter account, @europeanaeu.
- Chronicling America Historic US newspapers
- Google News Archive
- Archive.org
Other Sources:
- Kanopy
- Ancestry.com
- FindMyPast.com
- Online Newspapers
- Wikipedia
- The Internet Movie Database
- Snopes
- British Pathé on YouTube and Streaming
Locations/Settings
Software/Apps:
- BookBuddy+
- Evernote
- One Note (Microsoft)
- Notes (Apple)
- Scrivener
Miscellaneous:
200 Best Sites for Writers – A wide range of links for writers.
Google cheat sheet:
I know a lot of those, but I appreciate the accessible lists!! Thank you for sharing!