I want to know how you’re meant to research, especially topics that are very niche or hardly mentioned on the internet. I just hate it when you can’t find anything anywhere.
Posted on June 22, 2012.
I want to know how you’re meant to research, especially topics that are very niche or hardly mentioned on the internet. I just hate it when you can’t find anything anywhere.
Identify possible sources of information. These might include reference books (encyclopedias, dictionaries) that specialise in the area of knowledge you’re researching: history, statistics, religion, physical sciences, etc.; scholarly journals in the field you’re interested in; relevant books; websites of professional associations that professionals in that specific field belong to; etc.
Then come up with a list of search terms. These are key words that might be used in an online index or book index that would help you locate articles, books, etc., that are relevant to your topic. Then go to one or more “finding aids” — an encyclopedia, or the search function of a database that indexes lots of scholarly journals, etc. — and look up those search terms to see if there are any good sources for your topic.
And most librarians love it when people ask them for advice on questions like this. They often know little corners of the internet or print media that you’d probably never locate on your own but that may be exactly what you’re looking for.