Nearly every state university publishes an historical review magazine. This was my first resource after the books I found on my subject. Once you’ve read five or six books on your subject you should have begun to see many of the topics you’ll need to explore. Naturally, you’ll keep a notebook of these topics. Many of you will know how to store files of these topics on the computer. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how important organization is to the creation of a saleable book.The first level of research in the historical library is among such books as the Encyclopedia of American Biography and Who’s Who in American Biography, etc. Your librarian can guide you through such resources. Next, there are drawers of cards which lead you to the microfilm stacks. My main character was not a top tier politician and entrepreneur, but the microfilm found his name and profile in at least 30 books of important people. A Secretary of War for two years rates a fairly high status. Copy your microfilm sources and seek them out. Most of the men prior to the 19th century wrote their own short bios which were used in these encyclopedias of historical figures. Microfilm readers and printers are available in these libraries. Printing copies can be expensive. If you can establish trust, you may be able to take the microfilm reels to a local county library and copy them there for less than half the expense. That’s what I did to copy old newspapers.
You are now ready to explore your topic or main character or model for your main character on both a national and state level.
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