Thank
you, Bonnie Le and Konnie, for inviting me to be your first guest blogger. We
three are readers and writers who use libraries, and I was a librarian for over
25 years, so I’d like to share some library lore with your readers.
No
matter what kind of writing you do – fiction, non-fiction, essays, or even
poetry -- somewhere along the line you will need to do some fact-finding and
fact-checking.
Fact-finding and fact-checking
are better known as research. Research, ugh! That’s too often a dirty word that
many writers don’t like to think about. But writing what you know goes only so far. Where does a writer begin to do
research? Why, at the local public library, of course!
Here are
some basic but very important things to know about your public library:
1. Your card -- Get acquainted with your local library and its librarians,
Apply for a library card and keep it in good standing. Promptly pay any fines
that accrue and pay for any lost library material. Renew your card when the
time comes.
2. The reference desk -- Libraries have a reference desk where
masters-degreed and specially-trained librarians will research questions for
you and help you find what you need for your writing life. They will teach you
how to search databases and how to use electronic and paper catalogues. Also, reference librarians all
over the world are good sources for the names of and contact information for
local experts and historians.
3. Reciprocal
borrowing -- This means the patron travels to the book (or library materials). Visit
and use the libraries all around you -- area public libraries,
college/university libraries, museum libraries, corporate libraries, special
libraries. Many will accept your library card as your admission ticket, or you
might need a special permission slip from your home library.
Learn how to use
WorldCat and other library databases to identify and locate helpful books,
journal articles, DVDs, CDs, primary sources (e.g., diaries or letters from the
time period you’re researching). Be sure to take note of (photocopy!) the title
and verso (backside of the title
page) pages plus the primary sources listed in bibliographies, resource lists,
and notes in secondary sources.
4. Interlibrary loan
(ILL
Remember
-- DON’T SKIP THE LIBRARY RESEARCH! Many stories have been ruined when the writer didn’t
do the needed research.
Happy writing – and
researching!
Carol Baldridge
