Finding yourself in the stacks: how to use the library for all its worth

                Authors and Writers are two different people who do a lot of the same things.  An author is usually someone who has written a work of fiction, something to be entertaining for a group of readers.  Writers also entertain readers, but simultaneously they inform.  So what I’m blogging about today is most likely not going to be anything earth-shattering for nonfiction writers.  Instead they would be inclined to agree with me (or at least they should in this case).  Authors on the other hand, of which I am closer to being labeled as) tend to avoid and ignore this advice—unless of course they want to be a good one.

Is this where they keep all the books?

                Authors, and I include my past self in this statement, tend to rely largely upon imagination and personal experience to weave their tale from start to finish.  These two components are definitely major spokes on the wheel, but a good relationship with your local library needs to be a spoke as well.  Authors and writers alike who don’t spend a lot of time in their local library are like tourists who book the flight with no fore-planning, and no travel agent.  Honestly, we just don’t want to look like we have no idea what we are doing.  Unfortunately, this particular vanity can be dangerous to your book, article, short story, and writing career.

Know the tools in your toolbox

                These days everyone has access to a world full of information from the comfort of the tablet, home computer, and television.   The chances that your readers are educated on whichever subject you may be discussing in your narrative or nonfiction piece is pretty likely.   That means if you’re wrong, confused or misinformed on something they’ll probably call you on it!  Thus, using your local library to its fullest potential is an absolute must!

                With a bit of research and professional assistance you can sound like the smartest person on the planet!  You can sound like a Nobel Laureate for Advanced Physics, a first-hand eyewitness of the Hindenburg disaster, like a teacher of the geography of Glovania!  So what are these tools that can impart to you the wisdom of the ages?  Let’s take a quick look.

In addition to the catalog available in the library itself, there is the Reference Librarian.  If you’re looking for a book or source of information this is a good place to start.  For those like myself who prefer the old fashioned way of doing things talking to a real-live person is just the ticket.  This may be a bit slower than the instantaneous barrage of information available via the Internet, but the quality of information will be more accurate and more compact.  Another good place for information is the OCLC – this is the online computer library center, a collection of information from thousands of different libraries in North America.

Another good source is your local libraries ILL feature.  This is not borrowing books from other local libraries.  This is a separate source which looks for books on your subject from everywhere in the United States, and then lists them so you can order them (for a small fee) and have them sent to your local library.  Just be sure to ask about how long you’re allowed to keep that particular periodical.  The sending library may not have the same borrowing rules you’re used to.

Databases, diaries, and digital media…oh my!

                While there are many good resources available to us this day and age sometimes the best source of information can come straight from the horse’s mouth.  Interviewing is a skill that takes pre-planning and practice.  Once you get good at it, though, a whole world of information, history, and background details open up to you.  But what to do if you are looking for a piece of information old enough to where the first-hand eyewitnesses are deceased but not old or popular enough to be found in the 900s of the nonfiction section?  My suggestion is to go ask your librarian what microfiche is.  If they don’t know try the local libraries at your colleges and universities.

Did you get yourself a card?

                Accuracy leads to believability, and isn’t that what all writers and authors are striving for?  We want to create for our readers the illusion of being somewhere they have never been, doing something they have never done, and being able to relive those moments from our piece like the cherished memories they’ve built up in their own lives.  If all it takes to give them that is humbling ourselves enough to get help from the local librarian and do a bit of research offline and online, than in my opinion it’s totally worth it.