HOW TO FIND AUTHORITATIVE BACKGROUND ON ANY SUBJECT

HOW TO FIND AUTHORITATIVE BACKGROUND ON

ANY SUBJECT

When you're doing research or looking for information on a

particular subject, it's a lot like a detective checking all his possible

clues. The important thing is knowing who and where your sources

are.

In almost all instances, your first move should be to your

encyclopedia. if you don't have an up-to-date set, there's always

your public library.

Most of the time, and encyclopedia will give you at least the general

facts about your subject. You may have to check other sources for

more detailed information.

Thus, your next move should be books that have been written on the

subject. The subject and title sections of the card catalog or the

bound volumes of computer printouts in most public libraries will

give you plenty of listings.

After you've selected a number of books for background

information, check the magazines either directly related to your

subject, or those carrying articles on the subject. Most of the time,

you'll find that magazines will provide you with more up-to-date

timely information than books.

To check out information on your subject in magazines, look in the

Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. Under subject and author

headings, the complete collection of this guide will list articles

printed in magazines since the turn of the century. The Suggestions

For Use section will instruct you on how to read the codes under

each heading. If you can't find your subject listed, think of similar

subjects that might be related.

If your subject is part of a particular field of study, there may be a

special index that will help you. Among these special indexes, you'll

find: Art Index, Business Periodicals Index, Consumers Index,

Education Index, Humanities Index, Social Science Index,

Biological and Agricultural Index, and Applies Sciences and

Technology Index. You'll even find a Popular Periodicals Index which

lists articles that have appeared in currently popular magazines.

You'll also find that most newspapers are veritable goldmines of

reference material. Most of the big city newspapers have

computerized indexes. Several of the special national newspapers

such as Wall Street Journal also have reference indexes.

Without a doubt, the New York Times Index is the most complete. In

these newspaper indexes, subjects and people are listed

alphabetically with the date, page number, and usually with the

number of columns devoted to that particular story. About all you

have to do to avail yourself of this information is to stop by the

newspaper office, tell them the kind of information you're looking for,

and ask their help in locating it within their index.

FACTS ON FILE: is a world news digest that's found at most public

libraries. This is a weekly publication that's broken down into four

categories; World Affairs, U.S Affairs, Other Nations, and

Miscellaneous.

EDITORIALS ON FILE: is a similar service that comes out twice

each month. It is a survey of newspaper editorials than span a wide

range of subjects.

If you want to known about business trends, you should ask for and

look at the Moody's reports. These cover banking and finance,

industry and public utilities.

Most large libraries also keep pamphlet files for brochures from

various information services and government agencies. Be sure to

ask about these.

Whenever you have a question or want more information on a

subject, always check first in the material that has been written

about it. Public libraries and newspapers are free, and will definitely

point you in the right direction even if you don't know much about

sources.

One of the best sources of information is people. Ask around and

more often than not, you'll find someone right in your own area who

is well versed on your subject. An introductory phone call and an

explanation as why you're researching the subject will almost always

lead you to many people who'll be glad to talk with you.

Interviewing and talking with people will give you the chance to ask

questions and hear specific explanations about details that may not

be fully covered in a book, newspaper or other publication.

Researching and gathering information on a particular subject can

be fun, exciting, and very informative. It will never be dull or boring.

The important thing is to search out all the available sources, and

then to take advantage of them. From there, you'll find it's very much

like putting a jigsaw puzzle together; the closer you get to

completing the picture, the more excited you become.

Many people find that when they begin a research project on a

specific subject, they quickly uncover so many interesting related

subjects that it's hard to confine their enthusiasm to just the one

subject. This is what learning is all about, regardless of the use you

eventually make of the informative you gather. The more you learn,

the more you want to learn.

Curiosity about all things, and good, basic research are the prime

requisites for any successful writer. To have read about or

experienced only a few aspects of a given subject won't interest

very many people. What the people want is a thorough discussion

of the subject from as many different points of view as possible.

This, of course, requires research, and to do research, you have to

know where to find the material you want.

Hopefully, we've "turned you own" with the idea that the information

you're interested in is available and virtually at your fingertips. All it

takes is just a bit of effort on your part to avail yourself of it. Just

remember, whatever has been thought of or dreamed of by man

since the reasonable amount of searching.

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