In one of my library journals recently, I read about a new digital collection called Slavery and Abolition in the U.S., which was put together by Millersville University and Dickinson College from their library's holdings. If you enjoy reading first-person accounts of life in other times, or if your fiction is set in the 19th century in America, this site could possibly be a gold mine.
With support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the two institutions have digitized and put online for the public approximately 15,000 pages of first-person narratives, legal proceedings, anti-slavery tracts, religious sermons, and more. Through these readings, you can get a glimpse of the debates and ideologies of the time.
I'm always fascinated reading first-hand accounts from "regular" people who lived in explosive times. I was amazed when I went to look on this site and clicked on a book of letters written by a Virginia man. I discovered the first letter was dated 1858 and was written when he visited my home town! It gave me an odd feeling to read his description of the fort and the cemetery on the river--which I still frequently drive by. But reading his description of a slave auction held in my own city was just downright bizarre.
Also interesting was the preface to the book, written by someone other than the author, who decried the tendency of fiction books to write social issues into their plots and try to effect change through their stories. He mentioned not only Uncle Tom's Cabin on the one side, but also the novels written as "answers" to it from the other side of the debate. This editor despised them all and said such issues had no place in fiction. Hmm...sounds like a debate that's still going on today, about the place of religion or issues in novels. Only the issues themselves have changed.
I've only checked out the one book, so don't have deep knowledge of this site. But it looks promising. I haven't tackled a historical novel yet, but I do know from my writing that I love reading first-person narratives on any subject that touches on my novel's background or plot. I don't know a better way to add color and accuracy.
Showing posts with label Research. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Research. Show all posts
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Sunday, June 15, 2008
A Tax on Hoop Skirts?
Sometimes in my librarian job I get to look at some really fun things. A few weeks ago we received a trial subscription to a database called American Periodicals Series Online. A company called ProQuest has scanned and digitized magazines and journals from about 1740 to the early 1900s. The publications cover all kinds of subjects--medicine, politics, you name it. They also include popular magazines and ladies' journals.
So I did a search on fashion and limited it to a date range of the late 1700s to early 1800s. I came up with lots of interesting stuff, including a hilarious letter to the editor in The Lady's Magazine and Repository of Entertaining Knowledge, November, 1792, "On the Universal Fashion of Wearing Hoops." The poor writer laments the fact that every woman from low-born to high has been coerced into wearing "useless" and "greatly inconvenient" hoops.
Why is this man so concerned about a woman's fashion? Because he has four daughters--and they're about to bankrupt him. Not to buy the dresses and hoops, but because of how it's affecting the rest of their lives. "At first their hoops were small," he says, "and consequently less inconvenient, but they are now grown to such an enormous size that I must be obliged (if they do not retrench them) to leave my house on the account, as the rooms, where we could formerly move very conveniently, are now too small to admit of our stirring, without incommoding each other. The stair-case, which is rather narrow, is become (if not wholly useless) extremely dangerous to the female part of my family, as they can neither ascend, nor descend in any other direction than sideways."
To help alleviate the strain on society, the writer proposes a tax on hoop skirts, which I don't think ever happened.
Next I read an article from the July 11, 1807 Lady's Weekly Miscellany, in which a writer also lamented the unbecoming fashions of the time, especially hats. "Ought not the figure of the head to be oval? Should not every thing which alters this figure, be considered as detracting from nature? What then are we to think of those bonnets that project both before and behind, and give the head of a woman, seen in profile, the form of a hammer!"
Oh, how I would love to sit and read articles from these fun magazines. And if you're a writer of historicals, what a fabulous resource this would be! Just think of the details, the atmosphere you could add to your story after reading such cozy articles from the time period of your novel.
Alas, we weren't able to purchase this database. Too expensive. But it's a great reminder of what's out there in college libraries that you won't be able to find on the free Internet. If you have a large university near you, in particular, check it out sometime. Often you can go in and pull up gems like these on their computers.
So I did a search on fashion and limited it to a date range of the late 1700s to early 1800s. I came up with lots of interesting stuff, including a hilarious letter to the editor in The Lady's Magazine and Repository of Entertaining Knowledge, November, 1792, "On the Universal Fashion of Wearing Hoops." The poor writer laments the fact that every woman from low-born to high has been coerced into wearing "useless" and "greatly inconvenient" hoops.
Why is this man so concerned about a woman's fashion? Because he has four daughters--and they're about to bankrupt him. Not to buy the dresses and hoops, but because of how it's affecting the rest of their lives. "At first their hoops were small," he says, "and consequently less inconvenient, but they are now grown to such an enormous size that I must be obliged (if they do not retrench them) to leave my house on the account, as the rooms, where we could formerly move very conveniently, are now too small to admit of our stirring, without incommoding each other. The stair-case, which is rather narrow, is become (if not wholly useless) extremely dangerous to the female part of my family, as they can neither ascend, nor descend in any other direction than sideways."
To help alleviate the strain on society, the writer proposes a tax on hoop skirts, which I don't think ever happened.
Next I read an article from the July 11, 1807 Lady's Weekly Miscellany, in which a writer also lamented the unbecoming fashions of the time, especially hats. "Ought not the figure of the head to be oval? Should not every thing which alters this figure, be considered as detracting from nature? What then are we to think of those bonnets that project both before and behind, and give the head of a woman, seen in profile, the form of a hammer!"
Oh, how I would love to sit and read articles from these fun magazines. And if you're a writer of historicals, what a fabulous resource this would be! Just think of the details, the atmosphere you could add to your story after reading such cozy articles from the time period of your novel.
Alas, we weren't able to purchase this database. Too expensive. But it's a great reminder of what's out there in college libraries that you won't be able to find on the free Internet. If you have a large university near you, in particular, check it out sometime. Often you can go in and pull up gems like these on their computers.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Finding True Stories to Add Color to Your Writing
I've learned a neat little trick lately when I'm looking for background or research material for my novels. I want to read true stories written by people who've gone through the same things my characters struggle with. Sometimes you can find biographies that are helpful, of course, but I've been frustrated using those. It takes a lot of time to plow through a whole book on one person's life, and then you've only gotten one story, one perspective.
I've discovered there are lots of books out there that are crammed full of personal stories about people who have gone through a certain kind of experience or illness or trauma. And one good way to find those books when searching a library catalog is to add the phrase "case studies" to your search.
The term "case studies" is one of those terms that library catalogers use as an attachment to the main subject headings. If you just stick it into your keyword search, the catalog will locate books with the term in the title, subject heading, etc. I just played around with WorldCat (a really neat combined catalog from thousands of libraries that I told you about earlier) and tried things like "schizophrenia case studies," "domestic violence case studies," "poison case studies"--you get the idea.
Of course, as with any keyword search, you come up with a lot of junk to wade through, too. You know another trick you can use in library searches to get rid of all that irrelevant stuff? Zero in on one book title that looks good. Click on its title and open its catalog record. Look at the "Subject Headings" or "Related Subjects" that are listed. These aren't keywords; they're the subjects the librarians use when cataloging the books. In most catalogs today, the subjects are hot links, and if you click on one, you'll bring up a list of just the books with that heading. You should now have a very focused list.
I've discovered there are lots of books out there that are crammed full of personal stories about people who have gone through a certain kind of experience or illness or trauma. And one good way to find those books when searching a library catalog is to add the phrase "case studies" to your search.
The term "case studies" is one of those terms that library catalogers use as an attachment to the main subject headings. If you just stick it into your keyword search, the catalog will locate books with the term in the title, subject heading, etc. I just played around with WorldCat (a really neat combined catalog from thousands of libraries that I told you about earlier) and tried things like "schizophrenia case studies," "domestic violence case studies," "poison case studies"--you get the idea.
Of course, as with any keyword search, you come up with a lot of junk to wade through, too. You know another trick you can use in library searches to get rid of all that irrelevant stuff? Zero in on one book title that looks good. Click on its title and open its catalog record. Look at the "Subject Headings" or "Related Subjects" that are listed. These aren't keywords; they're the subjects the librarians use when cataloging the books. In most catalogs today, the subjects are hot links, and if you click on one, you'll bring up a list of just the books with that heading. You should now have a very focused list.
In a story I'm working on, a character has a bout of memory loss after an injury. First of all, I didn't want it to come across like an old episode of Gilligan's Island or I Dream of Jeannie--you know, get conked on the head, memory flees. Conked on the head again, memory returns. Second, I'm struggling with one part of the story. I was so excited last night to start reading a chapter in this book that was so similar to my character's experience. I now know so much more about how she should behave during the ordeal. Not only that, I got ideas for making a couple of scenes so much more powerful because of this real woman's experience.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Time Flies When You're Reading About Time
I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend. Mine was excellent, although not terribly productive. But hey, it was a holiday weekend, right? Surely those don't have to be productive.
I did manage to crack a few books as research for my work in progress. At this point, I have to digress and put in yet another plug for libraries. A few weeks ago, I came across a book on amazon.com that I really wanted to look at for my current manuscript. I'd had an idea of someone using insulin in an attempted murder, but I needed some ideas on how this might be done. Lo and behold, I found a book called The Insulin Murders, a historical overview of cases in which insulin was used as a weapon. I really didn't want to spend $30 on it, however, especially when it might not really help, or might not be what I thought. I looked it up in Worldcat and found it was only in about five libraries in the U.S. I hesitated putting in an interlibrary loan request for it where I work since a) I wondered if this would be too much trouble and b) you hate to ask at work for a book about murders and how they're committed. People might start looking at you funny and avoiding you.
Actually, though, our interlibrary loan guru didn't bat an eye. So let me reassure you--interlibrary loan folks have seen it all. Don't hesitate to ask. She also got my book for me within a few days, all the way from Vermont.
Next, I've mentioned being interested in time travel--again, for a story I'm working on. The other day it suddenly occurred to me to wonder if there were any serious scientific books about the possibility of time travel. Turns out there are quite a few. I ordered a couple of them through our library and they came just in time for the long weekend.
So I spent some time over the weekend reading about...time. I discovered one basic fact. The concept of time is a lot bigger than my brain. I think the side of the brain that does physics is completely dormant in me. It may actually give off no measurable brain waves.
I also came away with a sort of awe and wonder of how big our universe is. Turns out, there are more dimensions of space and time out there than we can imagine. And just think, God is not only big enough to imagine it all, He created it all.
I'll probably be telling you more on this subject. It's fascinating stuff. I think. Assuming I understood any of it.
Books I'm reading about time and time travel:
Time Travel in Einstein's Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel through Time, by J. Richard Gott III
Enchanted Paths and Magic Words: The Quantum Mind and Time Travel in Science and in Literary Myth, by E. C. Barksdale
What God Knows: Time and the Question of Divine Knowledge, edited by Harry Lee Poe and J. Stanley Mattson
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Library Thing and Thingamabrarians
On one of my email listserves lately, there's been a lot of talk about a site called Shelfari, where you can upload a catalog of your books and share your list with friends or with others who may have similar reading tastes. One of the reasons it's been talked about so much, however, is that glitches ensued when some folks tried to add friends to their group and the site instead emailed everyone in their address book.
I had never heard of Shelfari until then, but I did know about Library Thing. First let me say I've never invited anyone to join my group on Library Thing, so I don't know whether glitches ensue there, too. But I did learn about it in a library class last year, so I feel pretty good about the site's reputation.
I believe Library Thing was started by a librarian, Tim Spalding. If you're old enough, you may remember how you had to look up books by subject headings in the card catalog. (Remember the friendly admonitions to "see" or "see also" when you weren't using the right term?) Spalding wanted readers to be able to assign their own subjects, or "tags," for their books. Thousands of folks have taken him up on it. They are informally called thingamabrarians. Don't you love that word? It's the main reason I decided to do this post.
There are a number of things you can do in Library Thing. You can add your own book collection to the site, if you want to. You can add a snippet of info about each one, and Library Thing will fill in the rest. You can give your books tags that are meaningful to you. You can then hoard that wealth of information to yourself, or you can make it public. That way, if you have books you've labeled Christian and fantasy and pirates (guess what I've been reading lately), and someone has a hankering for a book with those tags, you can help them find it. You can discuss books online or join a group. If you see a book you want, you can link to a book swap site and try to make a trade for it.
There's a Book Suggester option, where you enter the name of a book you like and Library Thing suggests others you might like. There's also a funny feature called the "Unsuggester," which tells you books you would probably detest.
My main use for Library Thing has been to ferret out books that might be similar to the stories I'm writing. I told you about my gothic ranch house in Georgia. So for starters I put in "gothic" and "Southern." I kept coming up with Flannery O'Connor stories. Hmm.
I had never heard of Shelfari until then, but I did know about Library Thing. First let me say I've never invited anyone to join my group on Library Thing, so I don't know whether glitches ensue there, too. But I did learn about it in a library class last year, so I feel pretty good about the site's reputation.
I believe Library Thing was started by a librarian, Tim Spalding. If you're old enough, you may remember how you had to look up books by subject headings in the card catalog. (Remember the friendly admonitions to "see" or "see also" when you weren't using the right term?) Spalding wanted readers to be able to assign their own subjects, or "tags," for their books. Thousands of folks have taken him up on it. They are informally called thingamabrarians. Don't you love that word? It's the main reason I decided to do this post.
There are a number of things you can do in Library Thing. You can add your own book collection to the site, if you want to. You can add a snippet of info about each one, and Library Thing will fill in the rest. You can give your books tags that are meaningful to you. You can then hoard that wealth of information to yourself, or you can make it public. That way, if you have books you've labeled Christian and fantasy and pirates (guess what I've been reading lately), and someone has a hankering for a book with those tags, you can help them find it. You can discuss books online or join a group. If you see a book you want, you can link to a book swap site and try to make a trade for it.
There's a Book Suggester option, where you enter the name of a book you like and Library Thing suggests others you might like. There's also a funny feature called the "Unsuggester," which tells you books you would probably detest.
My main use for Library Thing has been to ferret out books that might be similar to the stories I'm writing. I told you about my gothic ranch house in Georgia. So for starters I put in "gothic" and "Southern." I kept coming up with Flannery O'Connor stories. Hmm.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
A Delicious Research Tool
The research tool I want to tell you about today won't help you find information. Instead it will help you organize all that great stuff you've already found--and actually be able to find it again!
I hesitated to write about del.icio.us, because I was afraid you'd all groan and tell me, "Robin, please, we've known about this forever!" That's a possibility, but since I just found out about it a few months ago and fell in love with it, I decided to risk your scorn.
If you're like me, you do a lot of surfing on the web. I do serious research for my book as well as shopping for bargains and reading about my hobbies. I find some amazing stuff. Then, two days later, I want to look at one of the sites again. Okay, where was it? Did I do a Google search? I think so, but what were those magic keywords? Hmmm... Or didn't I start out on the site about sewing patterns and somehow end up on the one about braiding hair? How in the world did I get from here to there?
This is where del.icio.us comes in. Once you register for a free account, you can choose to add two buttons to the tool bar of your browser. You find a site that's interesting, and you hit the "tag" button at the top of the screen. Del.icio.us provides you with a box to enter labels for the site (like research, novel, writing, civil war, costumes, etc.). Any subjects that you want to assign to that site. You can also add a note of description. Hit save, and you're done.
So two weeks from now, when you want to find that handy article about women's clothing in the Revolutionary War, you simply hit the del.icio.us button at the top of your browser screen, and your list of sites comes up. The most recent ones are listed first, and you can see your brief description along with the URL and name of the website. Even better, there's a list of all your tags on the right, so if you want to go directly to the clothing research for your historical novel, you can click on those tags. But if you want to revisit those wonderful sites that sell toile fabric at a bargain, one click brings those up, as well.
Sometimes when I tell people about del.icio.us, they say, "But I already use the Favorites button or bookmark sites on my computer." I have to tell them, that's like using a bicycle instead of a car. With del.icio.us, I can borrow my cousin's computer in Florida, log in, and there's all my research. Plus, it's organized by all my tags--even if there are hundreds of sites, they're easy to locate. I don't have to scroll down a long list of random website names.
Del.icio.us is a "social bookmarking" site, meaning that if you want to, you can share tags with other users. So if you want to see who else has labeled sites about historical fashion, or toile fabric, you can. You can make your tags private or public, so if you want to, you can share with others--or keep your research to yourself. Groups with certain things in common may share tags. For example, I took an online course back in January for my job, and the students were scattered all over the world. But as we found articles and such, we labeled them with the name of our class so we could easily share research with each other.
I have to confess, though, my use of del.icio.us is pretty basic. Just having a tool that helps organize me and keep me from losing important information is plenty for me!
So, did y'all already know all this? Or do you use something similar--or better?
I hesitated to write about del.icio.us, because I was afraid you'd all groan and tell me, "Robin, please, we've known about this forever!" That's a possibility, but since I just found out about it a few months ago and fell in love with it, I decided to risk your scorn.
If you're like me, you do a lot of surfing on the web. I do serious research for my book as well as shopping for bargains and reading about my hobbies. I find some amazing stuff. Then, two days later, I want to look at one of the sites again. Okay, where was it? Did I do a Google search? I think so, but what were those magic keywords? Hmmm... Or didn't I start out on the site about sewing patterns and somehow end up on the one about braiding hair? How in the world did I get from here to there?
This is where del.icio.us comes in. Once you register for a free account, you can choose to add two buttons to the tool bar of your browser. You find a site that's interesting, and you hit the "tag" button at the top of the screen. Del.icio.us provides you with a box to enter labels for the site (like research, novel, writing, civil war, costumes, etc.). Any subjects that you want to assign to that site. You can also add a note of description. Hit save, and you're done.
So two weeks from now, when you want to find that handy article about women's clothing in the Revolutionary War, you simply hit the del.icio.us button at the top of your browser screen, and your list of sites comes up. The most recent ones are listed first, and you can see your brief description along with the URL and name of the website. Even better, there's a list of all your tags on the right, so if you want to go directly to the clothing research for your historical novel, you can click on those tags. But if you want to revisit those wonderful sites that sell toile fabric at a bargain, one click brings those up, as well.
Sometimes when I tell people about del.icio.us, they say, "But I already use the Favorites button or bookmark sites on my computer." I have to tell them, that's like using a bicycle instead of a car. With del.icio.us, I can borrow my cousin's computer in Florida, log in, and there's all my research. Plus, it's organized by all my tags--even if there are hundreds of sites, they're easy to locate. I don't have to scroll down a long list of random website names.
Del.icio.us is a "social bookmarking" site, meaning that if you want to, you can share tags with other users. So if you want to see who else has labeled sites about historical fashion, or toile fabric, you can. You can make your tags private or public, so if you want to, you can share with others--or keep your research to yourself. Groups with certain things in common may share tags. For example, I took an online course back in January for my job, and the students were scattered all over the world. But as we found articles and such, we labeled them with the name of our class so we could easily share research with each other.
I have to confess, though, my use of del.icio.us is pretty basic. Just having a tool that helps organize me and keep me from losing important information is plenty for me!
So, did y'all already know all this? Or do you use something similar--or better?
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Research Tip: Making the Most of Google
Okay, if you're on a computer, writing and reading blogs, chances are you use Google. But did you know there are some extra things you can do to make it work even better for you?
There are several more "focused" Google search engines. Each one in itself is pretty nifty. The U.S. Government link will let you search within government sites. So if you want to do a search about space, you'll come up with NASA web pages, for example, minus all the web sites put up by individuals or folks trying to sell you an opportunity to name a star after yourself.
If you don't want to try out all these new sites, there are plenty of tricks you can use to enhance your search at plain old Google. Start by clicking the "Advanced Search" button next to the quick search box. You can do all kinds of strange and wonderful things from the advanced search screen.
The first boxes let you control how Google looks for your search terms. The boxes are pretty self-explanatory. In the first box ("with all of the words"), you can put terms that absolutely must be in your results. In other words, if you're looking for web pages about The Color Purple, you don't want it to return results that only had "purple" in them. The most popular site could be about eggplants, in that case! Of course, for a search like that, you'd probably want to put "The Color Purple" in the box that says "with the exact phrase."
The box that says "with at least one of the words" is handy when you're not sure which word the authors might have used, and you don't want to miss any good sites. For example, you could put in "illness sickness syndrome disorder" and it would pull up sites that have even just one of those words.
Maybe you're looking for information about flea treatments for dogs. In the box "without the words" you could put "cats," if you want to avoid having to plow through info on felines.
You can put in limits on dates if you want to make certain a site has up-to-date information.
You can tell it to either leave out certain domains, or search ONLY in certain domains (like .com, .org, .edu., .gov, etc.) Maybe you're looking for some academic or scholarly information, so you might want to exclude .com sites, because they can be more commercial. Maybe you want to only search .edu sites, because these come from educational institutions and you could find out what academics are writing on the subject.
I'd tell you more, but it's making me tired just thinking of it all! Check it out and let me know what you think. I'm playing around with it all myself, and will probably cover each of these more in-depth later.
There are several more "focused" Google search engines. Each one in itself is pretty nifty. The U.S. Government link will let you search within government sites. So if you want to do a search about space, you'll come up with NASA web pages, for example, minus all the web sites put up by individuals or folks trying to sell you an opportunity to name a star after yourself.
Google is in the process of putting the full text of thousands of books online. Through the Google Book Search, you can search within the full text of those books--and then read them online once you find them! Other books that aren't available in full text can still be searched, and you can see "snippets" from them, showing where your search terms are found. Then there are links to help you find the book in a library or online store.
Want to find out what people are saying in their blogs about Pirates of the Caribbean? (Okay, that's probably just me, but it's still a good example.) Go to Google Blog Search.
If you don't want to try out all these new sites, there are plenty of tricks you can use to enhance your search at plain old Google. Start by clicking the "Advanced Search" button next to the quick search box. You can do all kinds of strange and wonderful things from the advanced search screen.
The first boxes let you control how Google looks for your search terms. The boxes are pretty self-explanatory. In the first box ("with all of the words"), you can put terms that absolutely must be in your results. In other words, if you're looking for web pages about The Color Purple, you don't want it to return results that only had "purple" in them. The most popular site could be about eggplants, in that case! Of course, for a search like that, you'd probably want to put "The Color Purple" in the box that says "with the exact phrase."
The box that says "with at least one of the words" is handy when you're not sure which word the authors might have used, and you don't want to miss any good sites. For example, you could put in "illness sickness syndrome disorder" and it would pull up sites that have even just one of those words.
Maybe you're looking for information about flea treatments for dogs. In the box "without the words" you could put "cats," if you want to avoid having to plow through info on felines.
You can put in limits on dates if you want to make certain a site has up-to-date information.
You can tell it to either leave out certain domains, or search ONLY in certain domains (like .com, .org, .edu., .gov, etc.) Maybe you're looking for some academic or scholarly information, so you might want to exclude .com sites, because they can be more commercial. Maybe you want to only search .edu sites, because these come from educational institutions and you could find out what academics are writing on the subject.
I'd tell you more, but it's making me tired just thinking of it all! Check it out and let me know what you think. I'm playing around with it all myself, and will probably cover each of these more in-depth later.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Research Tip: American Memory at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs DivisionHave you ever checked out the Library of Congress's American Memory project?
If you're working on a historical set in the U.S., this is a must for you! The Library of Congress has digitized and put online thousands of oral histories, historic photographs, maps, sheet music, sound recordings, and more. The above photo is from the Selected Civil War Photographs collection, and depicts a dinner party outside a tent at the Army of the Potomac headquarters in Virginia. You can browse this collection by subject. So if you're interested in firearms, or battle-damaged buildings, or even pictures of folks "eating and drinking," you can narrow down your focus.
One collection called "After the Day of Infamy" has audio recordings of interviews with Americans across the country in the days following Pearl Harbor. Traveling in America has first-person narratives of people--you guessed it!--traveling in America from 1750-1920. There are slave narratives, pictures from the Dust Bowl, "life histories" of ordinary Americans collected by a Federal work project in the 1930s, folk music... I could go on and on.
Plus, if you need help finding what you're looking for, there's an Ask-A-Librarian link so you can connect with a Library of Congress librarian.
I could go on and on. But you should really check it out yourself. Even if you're not working on a historical, it's fun!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Research Tip: Search Libraries & Archives Worldwide in One Search
Did you know that about 10,000 libraries have banded together and produced one big catalog--and that it's available online and you can search it for free? It's called WorldCat, and it's a pretty good bet that your local public and college libraries are members. So what does that mean for you as a writer or reader?
If you go to WorldCat and do a search on a topic, it won't just give you a list of results. You can give it your location via zip code and it will produce a list of nearby libraries that have the item that interests you. It will even tell you how many miles away the library is--and link you to that library's web page and "Ask a Librarian" feature. So in a couple of clicks, you could locate some helpful material and communicate with your local librarian about it if you have questions. And of course, if it's not available near you, you can also click a button to be taken to an online bookseller that has the item.
One of my favorite things about WorldCat is that it will also tell you about relevant items that are cataloged in the library's archives. In fact, if you just want to look at archival materials, you can look at the limiters over on the left side and click on "Archival Materials." Try doing a search like "slavery oral histories" or "civil war journals," for example, and you'll find published books and one-of-a-kind documents that exist only in the Archives.
Don't forget that, if the book you want isn't in a library near you, you can take the info to your local library and ask them to get it for you through Interlibrary Loan. Most Archival materials won't be sent out that way. But some archives have their cataloged materials digitized, and others might occasionally send you a small amount of photocopied material. I have seen some that would send a microfilmed reel of historic newspapers, for example, to your local library. You would just have to use it in the library, not take it home with you. (But then, not many of us have microfilm machines at home, anyway!)
You could also use WorldCat to try to find other books similar to your Work in Progress. I mentioned some ways to do this in an earlier post, but you can also try WorldCat. I tried my "christian fiction time travel" search and it produced great results.
Here's one of my favorite anecdoctes about WorldCat. For almost a hundred years, a four-volume set of engravings by a renowned 17th century British engraver was "missing." It had actually been purchased by someone and given to the University of Southern California, but researchers studying this engraver had no idea where the volumes ended up. One day, a cataloger working on a project about the engraver decided to check WorldCat. And there the volumes were, very clearly cataloged at USC. But until WorldCat came along, their location was a forgotten factoid. A complete mystery.
If you go to WorldCat and do a search on a topic, it won't just give you a list of results. You can give it your location via zip code and it will produce a list of nearby libraries that have the item that interests you. It will even tell you how many miles away the library is--and link you to that library's web page and "Ask a Librarian" feature. So in a couple of clicks, you could locate some helpful material and communicate with your local librarian about it if you have questions. And of course, if it's not available near you, you can also click a button to be taken to an online bookseller that has the item.
One of my favorite things about WorldCat is that it will also tell you about relevant items that are cataloged in the library's archives. In fact, if you just want to look at archival materials, you can look at the limiters over on the left side and click on "Archival Materials." Try doing a search like "slavery oral histories" or "civil war journals," for example, and you'll find published books and one-of-a-kind documents that exist only in the Archives.
Don't forget that, if the book you want isn't in a library near you, you can take the info to your local library and ask them to get it for you through Interlibrary Loan. Most Archival materials won't be sent out that way. But some archives have their cataloged materials digitized, and others might occasionally send you a small amount of photocopied material. I have seen some that would send a microfilmed reel of historic newspapers, for example, to your local library. You would just have to use it in the library, not take it home with you. (But then, not many of us have microfilm machines at home, anyway!)
You could also use WorldCat to try to find other books similar to your Work in Progress. I mentioned some ways to do this in an earlier post, but you can also try WorldCat. I tried my "christian fiction time travel" search and it produced great results.
Here's one of my favorite anecdoctes about WorldCat. For almost a hundred years, a four-volume set of engravings by a renowned 17th century British engraver was "missing." It had actually been purchased by someone and given to the University of Southern California, but researchers studying this engraver had no idea where the volumes ended up. One day, a cataloger working on a project about the engraver decided to check WorldCat. And there the volumes were, very clearly cataloged at USC. But until WorldCat came along, their location was a forgotten factoid. A complete mystery.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Research Tip: More Online Libraries, but These are for Everyone!
I've posted a couple of times about virtual libraries that most states offer for their citizens, and I've compiled a list of all those I've found at Facts for Fiction. I've found virtual libraries for 44 states so far. But what if your state doesn't have one? Or your library doesn't have the resources you need?
I've found a couple of online libraries that anyone can access. The first one is the Internet Public Library. I particularly like the Pathfinders page. At my library (at a community college), we prepare similar guides called subject guides for students in various classes or disciplines. These guides have links to the book catalogs, specific databases for finding articles in their field, trusted websites in their area, etc. Everything they need to guide them through a research project for their class, from start to finish. There's even a guide at the end for preparing their works cited list. These Pathfinders are similar guides for the general public. I like them because they aren't just a collection of web links, but they give you guidance on different ways to approach your search for information. These days, it's tempting to use a Google search for everything--and hey, I love Google! But if you can't quite find what you need that way, these guides may help you think of a new approach.
Also, the Internet Public Library has an "Ask a Question" form that you can use to--yes, that's right--ask a question of an actual live human being. In fact, the form cautions you to remember that you will be talking to a person, not typing keywords into a search engine, so you need to give them full sentences. Talk to them! This service is staffed by volunteers who are librarians or graduate students in library and information science programs. Aren't librarians wonderful?
Next is Library Spot. I'm amazed at the sheer number of links on the home page, and the different kinds of information they provide access to. In an earlier post, I mentioned their Ask an Expert link. What could be better for fiction writers trying to create characters with all kinds of interesting jobs and backgrounds?
I've found a couple of online libraries that anyone can access. The first one is the Internet Public Library. I particularly like the Pathfinders page. At my library (at a community college), we prepare similar guides called subject guides for students in various classes or disciplines. These guides have links to the book catalogs, specific databases for finding articles in their field, trusted websites in their area, etc. Everything they need to guide them through a research project for their class, from start to finish. There's even a guide at the end for preparing their works cited list. These Pathfinders are similar guides for the general public. I like them because they aren't just a collection of web links, but they give you guidance on different ways to approach your search for information. These days, it's tempting to use a Google search for everything--and hey, I love Google! But if you can't quite find what you need that way, these guides may help you think of a new approach.
Also, the Internet Public Library has an "Ask a Question" form that you can use to--yes, that's right--ask a question of an actual live human being. In fact, the form cautions you to remember that you will be talking to a person, not typing keywords into a search engine, so you need to give them full sentences. Talk to them! This service is staffed by volunteers who are librarians or graduate students in library and information science programs. Aren't librarians wonderful?
Next is Library Spot. I'm amazed at the sheer number of links on the home page, and the different kinds of information they provide access to. In an earlier post, I mentioned their Ask an Expert link. What could be better for fiction writers trying to create characters with all kinds of interesting jobs and backgrounds?
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Research Tip: Are There Other Books Out There Like Mine?
In an earlier post, I told you about virtual libraries that most states have for their citizens. As a matter of fact, I've found online libraries for 44 states now, if you want to check it out at Facts for Fiction.
In Georgia's virtual library (GALILEO), we have a great resource called NoveList. Its main focus is to help readers find books similar to ones they've read and enjoyed, or find other authors that will remind them of their favorites. As a fiction writer, I've found another great use for it.
Have you ever been advised to find houses that publish books similar to yours? Or maybe in a book proposal, you want to refer to successful novels that share certain qualities with yours. Maybe you're just curious what's out there that's like your work in progress. NoveList is a great source for that.
You can, of course, just browse the Author Read-Alikes or its other features. But it also has a really cool feature where you can "describe a plot" and have it pull up a list that fits the bill.
For example, awhile back I had a new story idea involving time travel. Is time travel an acceptable topic in the Christian fiction market, I wondered? Has anyone done it before? So I entered time travel and Christian fiction as my search terms, and quickly found that Randy Ingermanson, Nancy Moser and other Christian novelists had indeed tackled that subject. But mine has a sort of psychological suspense to it. I tried psychological suspense and time travel and came up with Kindred by Octavia Butler.
I've checked for NoveList in some of the other virtual libraries in the Facts for Fiction list. Some seem to have it and some don't. If you're one of the unfortunate ones whose state doesn't offer it, don't despair. I'll bet your public library has some kind of resource for finding "read-alikes" and books that have certain plots or themes. Just ask your local librarian, and she (or he) can probably point you in the right direction.
In Georgia's virtual library (GALILEO), we have a great resource called NoveList. Its main focus is to help readers find books similar to ones they've read and enjoyed, or find other authors that will remind them of their favorites. As a fiction writer, I've found another great use for it.
Have you ever been advised to find houses that publish books similar to yours? Or maybe in a book proposal, you want to refer to successful novels that share certain qualities with yours. Maybe you're just curious what's out there that's like your work in progress. NoveList is a great source for that.
You can, of course, just browse the Author Read-Alikes or its other features. But it also has a really cool feature where you can "describe a plot" and have it pull up a list that fits the bill.
For example, awhile back I had a new story idea involving time travel. Is time travel an acceptable topic in the Christian fiction market, I wondered? Has anyone done it before? So I entered time travel and Christian fiction as my search terms, and quickly found that Randy Ingermanson, Nancy Moser and other Christian novelists had indeed tackled that subject. But mine has a sort of psychological suspense to it. I tried psychological suspense and time travel and came up with Kindred by Octavia Butler.
I've checked for NoveList in some of the other virtual libraries in the Facts for Fiction list. Some seem to have it and some don't. If you're one of the unfortunate ones whose state doesn't offer it, don't despair. I'll bet your public library has some kind of resource for finding "read-alikes" and books that have certain plots or themes. Just ask your local librarian, and she (or he) can probably point you in the right direction.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Research Tip: Ask An Expert
Last week I spoke about state virtual libraries. (By the way, I've added several states to that list at Facts for Fiction, if you want to check it out.)
I recently discovered a fabulous online library that anyone can use, without logging in. It's called Library Spot, and I'll talk more about it another time. I wanted to point out just one of its many features, a listing called Ask An Expert.
This portal gets you started not only finding databases or search engines to help answer questions in specific fields. It also has links to loads of spots with volunteer experts, or librarians or researchers. Just think--actual human beings to give specific answers to specific questions. For free!
Being an introvert, I often find it difficult to approach some stranger and ask for information I need for a story. (And you know how it is. When you're writing fiction, the question is usually pretty weird. "So, Doctor, what kind of poison could a woman give her husband that would look like a simple heart attack?") So I love the idea of having experts standing by, waiting for my questions. Questions that I will send via email so they won't see me blush.
So it sounds wonderful, if it works. Here's my confession. I recently discovered this site and haven't tried asking the experts anything yet. I played around with the links this afternoon. I found problems with one or two. Others seemed great.
If you decide to try it out, please let me know if you have any problems--or if it's the best thing since grits. (Or sliced bread, for you non-Southern persons.)
I recently discovered a fabulous online library that anyone can use, without logging in. It's called Library Spot, and I'll talk more about it another time. I wanted to point out just one of its many features, a listing called Ask An Expert.
This portal gets you started not only finding databases or search engines to help answer questions in specific fields. It also has links to loads of spots with volunteer experts, or librarians or researchers. Just think--actual human beings to give specific answers to specific questions. For free!
Being an introvert, I often find it difficult to approach some stranger and ask for information I need for a story. (And you know how it is. When you're writing fiction, the question is usually pretty weird. "So, Doctor, what kind of poison could a woman give her husband that would look like a simple heart attack?") So I love the idea of having experts standing by, waiting for my questions. Questions that I will send via email so they won't see me blush.
So it sounds wonderful, if it works. Here's my confession. I recently discovered this site and haven't tried asking the experts anything yet. I played around with the links this afternoon. I found problems with one or two. Others seemed great.
If you decide to try it out, please let me know if you have any problems--or if it's the best thing since grits. (Or sliced bread, for you non-Southern persons.)
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Does Your State Have a Virtual Library?
Did you know that most states have a library chock full of fascinating resources that their citizens can access online, free of charge?
Here in Georgia, our virtual library is called GALILEO, and though I might be a little bit prejudiced, I think it's fabulous. Georgia residents get a password from their public library, and then they can log into hundreds of resources: full-text articles from journals, magazines, and newspapers; digital displays from state archives; government documents; reproductions of historic diaries and newspapers; online encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference books.
GALILEO even provides a number of databases--plus the Digital Library of Georgia--that guests can use.
Most states today have some kind of online, virtual library for their citizens. I'm trying to search them all out for you and provide a listing of links on my research wiki: Facts for Fiction. I'm finding that the resources as well as the policies for accessing them vary widely from state to state. So you'll just have to check out the ones that interest you and see what they have.
Here are the states I have so far:
Here in Georgia, our virtual library is called GALILEO, and though I might be a little bit prejudiced, I think it's fabulous. Georgia residents get a password from their public library, and then they can log into hundreds of resources: full-text articles from journals, magazines, and newspapers; digital displays from state archives; government documents; reproductions of historic diaries and newspapers; online encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference books.
GALILEO even provides a number of databases--plus the Digital Library of Georgia--that guests can use.
Most states today have some kind of online, virtual library for their citizens. I'm trying to search them all out for you and provide a listing of links on my research wiki: Facts for Fiction. I'm finding that the resources as well as the policies for accessing them vary widely from state to state. So you'll just have to check out the ones that interest you and see what they have.
Here are the states I have so far:
Alabama (AVL)
Alaska State Library
Colorado (CVL)
Connecticut (iCONN)
Delaware (DelAWARE)
Georgia (GALILEO)
Georgia (Digital Library of Georgia)
I will keep adding states to the list, and I'll keep you (and Facts for Fiction) updated.
If you have information to add about your state, please let me know.
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