Your college professor assigned a research paper due in six weeks, letting you choose a topic.

You walk out of the classroom, thinking "What am I going to write about? And where will I find reference material?"

Here are some tips on taking the mystery out of the search for information:

• Try a Google search. (You probably thought of that immediately.)
• Go to the college library, find the reference librarians and ask for help.
• When you locate some books or magazines or journals related to your topic, help yourself find more material by noticing if the authors refer to OTHER writers or OTHER articles. Look in the book's bibliography (located at the back of the book or, in some cases, at the back of a chapter) for the names of authors.
  
• When you find an author's name in another author's bibliography, do a Google search on that author you just spotted. You may find a world of book titles, article titles, etc. which will just add to the scope of your paper.
• As you pursue this treasure hunt, watch for authors that cover your topic only in a superficial way or merely say the obvious or what 24 other authors have already said. Drop them like a hot potato and move on.
• Watch for authors who give you the flavor of "crackpot" or someone far removed from reality. Move on.
• After you have made a start on acquiring a list of resources, put your courage together and ask your professor if he/she knows of some good, credible writers on your topic. This may be a long shot, but on the other hand, you could find some worthwhile recommendations from your professor.
• If your topic is highly specialized and your college/university library is short on materials, ask the reference librarian if your college participates in an inter-library loan network. Sometimes you can find your resources thousands of miles from where you're studying. The materials are sent to you, via the college library. For more specific details on the loan process, ask your librarian.