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. In other words it's easy to read and understand. If you want more information ask your librarian or look in the on-line card catalog entering your subject and then your keywords if you don't find enough information using your subject.

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. Ask your librarian for books on your subject. Librarians know about books that don't always some up in the card catalog when you put in your keywords. They also 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 Infotrack (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)

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?
    Let's talk about how to search effectively on the Internet so that you don't waste time looking through stuff that doesn't help you with your project. Even though "surfing" the web is fun, it isn't a smart way to do research. Save the surfing for times when you're just having some fun that doesn't have a deadline!
    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.