[stylist] {Spam?} Research

Tue Oct 11 13:49:16 UTC 2016

I just Googled "hymns sung before 1941 in London" and got:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role_of_music_in_World_War_II
that one will be pretty general, but should be a good overview

next up: http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/ww2-music-uk.asp
I used the JAWS hotkey "N" to go to the beginning of the text since there 
weren't headings.  That takes you directly to the beginning of the article. 
I read the first bit.  It looks like a good listing of popular wartime music 
at the time.

My general Google strategy is to type in specifically what I'm looking for. 
For example something like: "how to repot aloe vera plants" not just 
"repotting plants" or "aloe vera".  The second two will get you general info 
and won't be what you want.  You'll wade through a lot of junk before 
getting to answers. If I notice in the first few search results that most 
people use a different word to describe the same thing, I might do another 
search using that term.  In my aloe example it might be succulents instead 
of aloe vera or just aloe.

Usually if you use the JAWS hotkey "H" or the number 1, that will take you 
to the first headingg.  Often that is the beginning of the main article. 
Sometimes you have to go down a couple of headings, just press "H" and then 
the down arrow to check for the text.  A lot of articles begin with sharing 
links and then the text.  So if you down arrow and find those sharing links 
keep arrowing down, the text is likely to follow.

In the listing of search results is usually a part of a sentence, which is 
the beginning of the text on the linked page.  That text is a good indicator 
of the information to expect.  If there is no text or it's some sort of 
code, I skip it.  In my experience those are the heavily graphics based 
pages or pages with a load of ads that will load slowly.

If you are doing academic research, where you need to cite sources, I stick 
to sites that end with .edu or .gov or a specific country designation.  I 
will use a Wicky page to get an overview for myself or to find helpful 
search terms, but Wicky isn't much more reliable than asking your next door 
neighbor.

I'm happy to help folks with research.    I really enjoy it.

Julie
New lowered price on my book:
Courage to Dare: A Blind Woman's Quest to Train her Own Guide Dog
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QXZSMOC
-----Original Message----- 
From: Tessa via stylist
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2016 7:54 AM
To: Writers' Division Mailing List
Cc: Tessa
Subject: [stylist] {Spam?} Research

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

_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://writers.nfb.org/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/julielj%40neb.rr.com

-----
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2012.0.2265 / Virus Database: 4365/12681 - Release Date: 10/10/16 