Your article or book should contain information that a child
or adult cannot find for himself by casually consulting an
encyclopedia or surfing the net or going to the library.
1) Encyclopedia,
almanac, or dictionary – Use as a starting point in your research of a topic.
2) Internet
– Be careful of your sources here.
Incorrect information is often repeated word-for-word on many
websites. Generally speaking, the
information found on a college/university website (.edu) or those sponsored by
a museum or historical/professional society (.org) or the government (.gov) are
usually reliable.
3) Children’s
books – Use these first to better understand your subject; however, don’t use
these exclusively. Children’s books give
clear, concise information about a subject, but you will need to know more
detailed, complex information before you can write your article or book.
4) Newspapers
and magazines – These may give you more up-to-date information on your subject
that hasn’t been published in books yet.
They will also show you different slants and approaches to your subject
that you might not have thought of before.
5) Government
documents, public records, reports from organizations or companies – These may
have statistics you can use. They may
also help you spot trends or attitudes of the public and private sectors.
6) Classical
books – These are books that have been used as references because of their
accuracy and/or subject matter.
7) Current
books on the topic – Use the most up-to-date adult books you can find on your
subject.
8) Your
local librarian – He or she can be a wealth of information.
9) Interviews
– Talk to people who work in the field of your topic. Be sure to use interesting quotes and
anecdotes from them. These people have
an in-depth knowledge about your subject.
10) Expert
reviews – The expert may be one of the people you’ve already interviewed, or
else it’s someone from a college or university, from a museum, or perhaps from
a professional or historical organization.
Ask this person to read your article for accuracy. You can also ask this person for quotes
and/or anecdotes to include in your article.
(Try www.profnet.com for experts
who don’t charge.)
Kind of disagree with you especially on point number 2. At one time the world was thought to be flat by popular opinion. Also professionals built the Titanic, amateurs built the Ark. Liked your ideas though. Just had to put in two bits. The government has been wrong many times. The healthy foods from when I was a kid, are now thought to kill you with cholesterol
ReplyDeleteAll knowledge changes. We must use the best sources we can. What you are suggesting is that anything goes. Professionals built the Titanic, but fools in advertising said it wouldn't sink and a captain ignored the obvious warnings. The amateur (only one) who built the Ark was Noah who got his blueprint from God who was NOT an amateur. Sure, the government has been wrong, but it has also been right. If you are looking for certain statistics, like population, where are you going to go? You can't go count the population of a city, so you must rely on the government's estimate of the number of people who live there. If you are doing serious research, you will use these suggestions.
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