When the search results are shown, make certain to scan
through as many as five or six pages [depending on the number
of hits]. Not all interesting results are among the first
few items. "Serendipity," by nature, often precludes finding
treasures in expected places. One joy of cyberspace and search
engines is that you discover connections you previously
were unaware of.
1. First, get a broad view of your subject. Read articles in a good
GENERAL ENCYCLOPEDIA. [Remember, there are now many great encyclopedias
on CD rom. . .including BRITANNICA. These CD's are supplemented with
ON-LINE extensions.]
Ordinarily, for FUTURE topics, the latest
editions
are best.For some topics, say, about literature, art, or
the paranormal,
the older BRITANNICA or AMERICANA might be better. Also, remember that many "New Age"
matters are old as civilization
itself.
And all the major religions
and many minor ones have been
talking about the Apocalypse or its equivalent for ages.
2.After gettings your bearings with a general encyclopedia, look
around for a SPECIALIZED ENCYCLOPEDIA or DICTIONARY on your subject. One of the
publishing phenomena of recent years is the flowering of the
PAPERBACK ENCYCLOPEDIA on many, many topics. Take
a look in Amazon or the library.
3. If you're studying a major topic. . .either the "whole field" or
some part of it. . . look in Amazon Books or the library for
a GUIDE or SOURCEBOOK [also ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES
. . .many examples in my Amazon bookstore].
4.Often, especially if you're going to make a major purchase,
you'll want to get BOOK REVIEWS. The databases that have
come out in the last few years [available at many libraries] are
simply wonderful. Ask a librarian about EBESCO, PROQUEST
DIRECT, & FIRST SEARCH, to name some of the best.
Often
you'll feel you have a whole library at your fingertips.
What will amaze you [it did me] is the breadth & depth of the
coverage. You will find excellent reviews of books, both scholarly
and popular. You won't have to be satisfied with short excerpts
find complete reviews. For that matter, some of the databases
contain
FULL TEXTS of magazine and journal articles. . .
often from
the late 80 to the present. [I notice that with
EBESCO, one
either print out OR even send the results to his/her email address!
Now, that's service.]
5. Let's suppose you don't have access to these databases, even
the standard ones that have been around a while. Don't despair.
All those easily usable PRINTED INDEXES are still around. And
sometimes printed indexes can be as fast or faster than electronic
retrieval devices. Don't sell print short. My bookstore attests to my
own faith that printed works are still the grand core of knowledge.
I don't believe you'll find many scholars, at least in most fields, who
would say the WWW is final stopping point in research. Often the
web leads one to printed knowledge rather than supplies it
full-blown.
Indiana University has a brilliantly lucid page on all the printed
research tools [plus some electronic tools] to help you find the best book reviews. Please
click here:
Book Reviews--General and Interdisciplinary Sources
6. For more BOOK REVIEWS there are many web sources as well.
Go to the online NEW YORK TIMES, BOSTON GLOBE,
BOOKLIST,
and many others. Here is the result from one search engine:
7. The World-Wide Web has much to offer on any topic if
you do a little searching. Use your favorite search engines to
find WEB PAGES devoted to particular topics and individuals.
[I found, for example, a web page on Isaac Asimov. . .the
coverage of every aspect of his work, plus leads into SF in
general,
was unbelievable. Take a look. This Asimov page
is like an ELECTRONIC GUIDEBOOK:
8. As you learn more about the web and web tools, you'll
eventually want to look into FTP [FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL].
There are many FTP programs to be
downloaded FREE on the web.
Here is a free program, one of the best available:
9. I won't go on for now. . . just one last point if you're setting
out to explore one or more topics on THE FUTURE.
Join and participate
in a USE GROUP or NEWSGROUP.
Here's an ASTRONOMY page with many links,
including one or more to discussion groups: