[stylist] {Spam?} Research

[Tessa]

Hi:
I am curious to find out how those of you who do research for your writings 
manage it.

The novel I'm closest to having publisher ready is set in London and 
Cornwall during the second world war. It's the story of a young woman who 
loses her family and home to the blitz and ends up working in the hospital 
caring for victims of shell-shock.

I wanted to write something about civilian life during that time as all the 
books I'd seen were all about the military side of things. Since then of 
course I've discovered a half dozen or so authors who have done just what 
I'm attempting. Anyway my issues are around getting information about the 
time how people lived, what they ate what they wore that sort of thing.

I know sighted writers use the internet a lot for this sort of thing but 
what I find is that a lot of information is stored as photos or as 
inaccessible pdf's or I simply don't know how to find the details I need, 
such as the basics on the structure of a nurses training program at the 
time.
Basically I'm winging it LOL. I read a dozen or more books on the subject, 
diaries as well as fiction and the rest I'm just making up as I go along. I 
have talked a lot with the ladies and one guy at our local public library 
and they provided me with a few web sites for example "which ships were sunk 
in november of 1941?" They know how to find that stuff and have been a 
tremendous help.

So, I wonder if any of you have research tips that you'd care to share or 
websites that are accessible and useful.

Two things I'm looking for in particular,
hymns that were sung before 1941
and
popular music of 1940/1941.
There are a couple dances in the book and I would like to be sure the 
musical references are correct.
I have several friends who were alive at the time, but they were children so 
don't remember much of the detail for many of my questions.

With my second piece that I submitted here it's a little closer to home the 
Alberta Badlands about which I know nothing and getting information is a 
little challenging, again it's mostly pictures. Ideally I'd like to go 
there, visit the area get a sense of it, see what it smells like, feels like 
all that stuff, the details of a dig, though I have some of that already 
from a background in anthropology.

As you see, I tend to be rather detail oriented LOL.
Anyway if anyone has tips for finding info to share I'd love to hear them.
Tessa