As I’ve said and written before – research is what writers do to postpone writing. But it’s also one of the fun parts of the job.

Last week I had the pleasure to spend the afternoon in my local public library conducting research for a new book. It felt familiar to be sitting at a library desk, surrounded by books. But research has changed since I sat in those library carrels at college.

Like everything else, our public libraries have embraced technology.

I was able to access research papers from a university in another state through my library’s Inter Library Loan program. The papers were delivered directly into my email account.I was able find and check out books through WorldCat, short for World Catalog. WorldCat is the world’s largest library catalog with books, magazines, research papers and more.I was able to search for and find newspaper articles that appeared in my hometown newspaper 140 years ago just be typing a pertinent keyword into the library’s digitized archives. Gone are the days of microfiche – although I’m told that’s still an option for future research sessions.

But best of all, I was able to work with librarians! Librarians who specialize in research or digital archives are founts of knowledge. I’ve yet to stump any of them with a question. And they want to share that knowledge – I now can do some of that research at home or anywhere.

But I think I’ll be back in the library again soon.

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