Research Hacks

Discover essential research techniques for writers! Learn why research is crucial, how to find primary and secondary sources, and tips for staying organized. Perfect for writers of all genres.

RESEARCH HACKS RESOURCES

 

 

Books

The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in the (time period) series

Everyday Life in America series

 

Catalogs

• Trade Catalogs: Hagley Library
• Product catalogs
• Era catalogs

*found on eBay or antique stores

 

Living History Museum

• Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums 

Online directory of museums

 

Membership/Professional/Trade Associations

• directory of associations

 

 

Online

• Internet archive (archive.org)
• American National Archives (www.archives.gov)
• Project Gutenberg (Gutenberg.org)
• Dover Imprints
• Google Books
• J-Stor (jstor.org)
• Project Muse (muse.jhu.edu)
• E-brary
• Newspaper Archives (freenewspaperarchives.us-FREE)
• Newspaper Archive (newspapers.com – Cost)
• Academia (academia.edu)
• Research Gate (researchgate.net)
• Unpaywall (unpaywall.org)
• Find A Grave (findagrave.com)
• Academy or Society (in person’s name)
• Census Records
• City Directories
• Local Research Librarian
• Library on-line database
• World Cat (worldcat.org)
• Stock houses
• Historical Societies
• Google Scholar
• Paper of record (newspapers)
• Newspaper Directory comprehensive directory

 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

• Library of Congress Main Page http://www.loc.gov
• LOC Catalog Search https://catalog.loc.gov/
• LOC Digital Map Collection
• Ask a Librarian http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/ Can’t find the answer you are looking for? A librarian will get your email and will respond!
• Chronicling America https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ Digitized U.S. newspapers from 1789-1963.
• Research Guides https://guides.loc.gov/?b=s
• Digital Collections https://www.loc.gov/collections/
• Web Guides https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/index.html
• By the People https://crowd.loc.gov/ You can help transcribe and tag digital sources at the LOC.
• Subscribe to newsletters and blogs https://loc.gov/subscribe/

 

 

SMITHSONIAN LIBRARIES

 

• Smithsonian Libraries Main Website https://library.si.edu/ Be sure to scroll halfway down the page to subscribe to their newsletter.

 

• One Search https://library.si.edu/research Searches their holdings.

 

• Biodiversity Heritage Library https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ This is a worldwide consortium of major natural history, botanical, and research libraries that has open access to materials.

 

• Experts List https://profiles.si.edu/ Find a Smithsonian expert and search publications.

 

• Free databases https://library.si.edu/research/free-databases-and-collections You can explore these from anywhere—no need to be on-site.

 

• Collections Search Center http://collections.si.edu/search/ Search almost 19 million items in the Smithsonian including objects, images, videos, and library and archival materials.

 

NATIONAL ARCHIVES

 

• National Archives Online Catalog https://catalog.archives.gov/ This doesn’t indicate everything they have. Reach out to an archivist to inquire about holdings if you can’t find what you are looking for.

 

• Founders Online https://founders.archives.gov/ This website holds many records of the United States Founding Fathers.

 

• Record Group Explorer https://www.archives.gov/findingaid/explorer Holdings are arranged by record groups at the National Archives. This helps you navigate the groups and what they have online.

 

• Topical Finding Aids https://www.archives.gov/research/topics

 

• Docs Teach https://www.docsteach.org/ While this is intended for teachers to use with students, it has an easier search feature than the regular catalog, so browse about at some of the collections already created.

 

• Citizen Archivist https://www.archives.gov/citizen-archivist You can help transcribe the sources at the National Archives.

 

• regional branches of the National Archives

 

• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
• Directory of African American Archives and Libraries
• Directory of American Indian Archives and Libraries
• Directory of Jewish Archives and Libraries
• Directory of Women’s Archives

 

 

CORPORATE ARCHIVES

 

– List of corporate archives in the United States and Canada 

 

 

FEDERAL ARCHIVES

 

–  Coast Guard Historian’s Office

            Lighthouses

– U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

– Partial List of Federal Government Libraries

 

 

 

 

Images

• Public domain images (https://edtechteacher.org/tools/research/finding-images/)
• Getty Open Content: Public domain art images from Getty collections.
• Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online: Images from the Library of Congress, now in the public domain.
• Wikimedia Commons: Historical and contemporary images contributed by participants.
• World Images: Primarily historical images
• NGA Images – National Gallery of Art: Includes more than 20,000 open-access digital images.
• org:  images, video, audio, and other media to view and download.
• The Commons by Flickr: Images from archives, museums, libraries, and research centers.
• Photo Graphic Libraries: Public Domain Images: links to public domain and free image collections.
• Yale University Digital Commons:  images from the Peabody Museum, Center for British Art, University Art Gallery, Library Map Collection, and Walpole Library Prints and Drawings. 
• Stock images
• Canva (collages & graphics)
• BeFunky (collages & graphics)
• The Welcome Library
• National Library of Medicine
• New York Public Library
• The J Paul Getty Museum’s Open Content
• S. Government sites including NASA.gov
• Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, etc.
• Image Houses:
• Shutterstock
• Granger
• Mary Evans
• Bridgeman
• Getty

 

 

• Reverse Google Image Search:

Instructions at https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/1325808?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en