Research Teacher is focused on helping you learn how to research. Whether you’re a graduate, undergrad or high school student, an amateur historian, genealogist or anyone else looking for information, you’ll learn something new here. My name is Nick, and I’m a professional librarian and archivist. I work at a research library at Stanford University and I’m passionate about helping people find the information that they need to reach their goals. I created ResearchTeacher.com to challenge myself to be a better researcher, writer and ultimately to help you.  
Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Photo by Lauren Manning, Flickr
  The Challenge It took me many years to learn the research skills that have helped me become successful professionally, academically and personally. I realized that most of us aren’t taught how to research, whether it’s online, in a library or archive. We’ve learned most of what we know through experience, trial and error. I think research is frustrating sometimes because we don’t know where to start. The Offer I’ve decided to share my knowledge so that you can learn to enjoy research, find the information that you’re looking for and get on with pursuing your dreams, whether you’re trying to earn a PhD or write your family history. I’ll answer questions like: How should I approach PhD research? How can I start a family history archive? What’s the best way to read a book? Here are three tips to improve your research skills right off the bat: 1. Ask the right questions. Maybe the topic you’ve selected is too broad and you don’t know where to start looking. Perhaps your question is so narrow that you can’t see the forest from the trees. Make sure that you have a specific target in mind, write down exactly what you are looking for in the form of a question and then start your search. 2. Take great notes. The act of writing imprints information more firmly in our memories, so experiment with jotting down information even if you don’t plan to go back to your notes often. I prefer to write down my notes on paper, but you can type them on your computer if it’s more comfortable for you. You might end up typing notes when you are researching online and writing them out when you are reading a book or looking at documents. 3. Set limits. For some questions finding the answer will be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Stay focused on your main question and don’t sweat the details if they aren’t crucial. Asess your progress after specific intervals and decide if your time is well spent. Come Join In The most rewarding questions for me to answer will be the ones you submit. Please leave a comment or send me a message. Tell me how you’d like to see this site grow. Your questions, knowledge and insights will be the true reward. Sign up for my newsletter for even more great information. Thanks for reading and lets get going with our research!

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