We modern day authors are so lucky. Whatever we might wonder, almost any question we want to ask will have been answered on the Internet.
Which songs were popular in England in January, 1922?
What was the world’s first postage stamp?
You can find all the answers at the touch of a button or two.
BUT
Sometimes there are mistakes on the Internet. Sometimes you need more detail than you can find on the Internet. The Internet is not enough. It can be very helpful and it can set you on the right path, but it doesn’t replace detailed and well-researched
BOOKS.
Miriam Drori, Author 
7 replies on “2015 A to Z Challenge: H is for Historical Research”
Well said! The internet information on Sei Shonagon always makes me grit my teeth. It almost all goes along the mythical lines that she ded in poverty (hinting that it was due to her immorality), rather than the truth as far as we know it, which is far more complicated.
Living where I do, I would be totally lost without the internet. But you’re right that you have to be very careful about sources of information, which can contradict each other. Which one is correct? I think you are spot on when you say it is a good place to start and enables you to narrow down your search, but there is no substitute for a properly-researched study by an expert in the field.
True! One of the reasons I never regretted getting my archaeology degree. It taught me how to distinguish sources…
@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary – Epics from A to Z
MopDog – 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary
Good advice in all instances.
~Visiting from AtoZ
It’s hard to remember how I did my research in the pre-Internet age, particularly since I got a lot of (mis)information from my father’s old set of 1965 encyclopedia. There was a lot of outdated stuff in there by the early and mid-1990s, as well as things I completely misinterpreted, being that kid who read too much and understood too little. As an adult, I’ve learnt about vetting my sources, and getting information from a variety of sources, not just one.
Thank you for all the comments. Very helpful, all of them.
Very true! The internet is so useful and I log hours of research on it. But you’re right, it can easily bite you in the butt too.
Shangri La Days