Ask Yourself:   Do I need current information?
                              Do I need historical information?
                               Where can I find it?

How do I find current information?
    If you need current information, go to current sources, including magazine and newspaper indexes, and the Internet.  Ask your librarian about the vertical file. This has information that librarians have collected on subjects not covered well in books. Books sometimes have the most current information on your topic, so don't forget to use them!  Check with the librarian and the online card catalog for books on your topic.

How do I find information in books?
    A great way to start is to look at a book written for a 2nd-4th grader. Adults do this all the time because you can get good basic information in a user-friendly format.
Hot Tip: You don't have to read the whole book
        to get good information from it.
 

    When you use a book, start by looking in the table of contents and index to see if you can find something that you need for your research. If so, look at it and see if it's something you want.  Librarians know  about reference books you could use.

How do I find magazine articles?
        Ask your librarian if there is an index like Middle Search or Infotrac (your public library will have this) that you can use. You can put in your subject and it will give you specific articles sometimes with full text  (you can print the article out without having to go find the magazine)

INFOTRAC: A system fund in most libraries that will help you find information in current periodicals. Be sure you try this source if it is available.  Articles from many periodicals are indexed in INFOTRAC.  When you type in Jane Yolen as your subject, you will find reviews of her books and other information.

How do I find newspaper articles?
    Ask your librarian if there is an index for newspapers such as Newsbank. Just like with magazines indexes, you can put in your subject and it will give you names of newspaper articles on your subject. Sometimes they include the full text that you can print out.
    The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times have online versions, for example. Click here for chicagotribune.com  or here for the suntimes.com

How can I find information on the Internet?
 
   If you have just your subject, use a directory search tool such as LookSmart or Yahoo. If you have made a list of keywords (words that relate to your topic) use a search engine such as Alta Vista ,Excite, Google, Hotbot, InfoSeek, Northern Light, OneKey, Snap, Lycos, Open Text.
    You can save time by using a meta-search engine. They search many search engines, which saves you time! Examples of multi-engine search tools are DogPile, Mamma, Metacrawler, SavvySearch,  or all4one. These are just a few of the search engines out there.

Click here to go to a list of search engines. New search engines come online all the time, so don't get stuck using just one.

    Two great online libraries are the Internet Public Library and the University of Chicago's Virtual Library.