Talking to a librarian changed how I see research tools

I had a chat with a librarian at the public library downtown last week. She told me about the free databases they have access to, like academic journals and historical newspaper archives. I always thought stuff like that was locked behind paywalls or only for college students. She showed me how to log in with just my library card number, and I spent an hour looking at old articles from the 1920s about my neighborhood. It hit different because I realized I've been wasting time on random Google searches when there are curated resources I can use for free. I started using their online system to find primary sources for a project I'm doing on local history. Has anyone else found a hidden gem through their library's website? I'd love to hear what databases you use.

2 comments

2 Comments

jesse9881mo ago

Heard that same tip from a local historian and it changed my whole approach too.

hugo_coleman281mo ago

Oh man, I spent like an hour last week trying to find a 1950s map of my street through regular Google and got nowhere. Librarians are basically wizards with better passwords than me.