Starting a research project can be a daunting task, but there are many different ways to begin and none of them are wrong. Whether you are working on an A&S project, trying to develop your persona or just trying to figure out what to wear to an event, one of the best places to start is with other SCAdians. Many people in the SCA collect books and some will let you borrow or review their books before you buy your own. This is especially helpful for rare or expensive books. Your kingdom website might also have some helpful resources, but you should look at other kingdoms’ websites as well. No two kingdom sites are the same, and you might find exactly the information you are looking for outside of your local area.
Outside of the SCA the best place to start your research is your local library. Not only will you find a vast array of physical sources there, you will also have access to online databases that you may not be able to use at home. Interlibrary loans can open you up to even more resources without having to travel. State libraries and university libraries can also be helpful if you have one nearby. Most university libraries provide some kind of access for local residents, and many also provide access to students from neighboring schools. If you do not live near a physical library, you can still find a great deal of information online in the form of ebooks and journal articles. Most libraries will provide some type of electronic access to people in their state without them ever having to enter the actual library building.
Nationally you have the Library of Congress, however, our country is so young, that may not be as helpful as other sources. Worldcat is the largest library database and can search many libraries in your area at once, which can sometimes make your work more efficient. And finally you can use JSTOR (short for “journal storage”) which is a huge database of journal articles on every topic imaginable. Often JSTOR availability is limited outside of a physical library but some public libraries will provide you full access from your home computer. In Ohio, for example, Cleveland Public Libraries provide this service to all their patrons.
While published books and peer reviewed journal articles can provide some of the best information, you should not discount your basic internet search engines. Most, including Google, make it very easy for you to filter your results to help you more easily find the information you are looking for. If you are working with artwork, Google image is especially helpful as it allows you to upload an image for searching. Project Gutenberg provides free digitized copies of over 70,000 books that are old enough to be in the public domain. For those who prefer to listen to books, Librivox provides access to some of these same sources as audiobooks read by volunteers. Finally The Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free digitized books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.