How to Research in a Pre-Google Setting

[lissa_quon]

Setting: late 1960s early 1970s - small town in America

Comments

[cdozo]

The library should have a reference desk where a librarian can help them figure out where to find the information they need. Even small libraries should have someone

[cdozo]

Your main character might also check an encyclopedia before consulting the reference librarian. You've probably seen encyclopedias. They consisted of a bunch of books which covered stuff beginning with different letters of the alphabet -- say A-D in the first book, F-J in the second and so on. There were also yearly updates that covered new things so the encyclopedia stayed current. Some families had encyclopedias at home, but not everyone. And most young singles would not have one at home. If your main character doesn't have an encyclopedia, he or she would either go to a friend's house to use theirs, or go to the library.

[cdozo]

And the main character could ask at a some of the local banks. Since banks provide loans to many types of businesses, a good banker will know a little bit about a lot of the businesses in town. (I don't think it works this way any more, but it did back then). So if the letters relate to something in town, one of the local bankers might be able to help figure out where they are from.

[lissa_quon]

Oh yes - I remember those, I sort of miss not having them around the house even if they were ten years out of date.

I had ruled those out since it didn't seem likely they would contain anything useful for this sort of thing.

[cdozo]

Some companies use three-letter names, such as AAA (the American Automobile Association), ABC (the American Brodcasting Company), BBB (the Better Business Bureau). Companies like that would list themselves under both names in the phone book.

[rurounitriv]

Only 10 years? My mom only got rid of hers a few years ago... and they were older than I am, LOL!

[lissa_quon]

Was debating about that, though I think this is a bit beyond the capacity for the town librarian, calling another reference librarian might be the thing to do in this situation.

Hadn't thought about Chamber of Commerce or the BBB - thats actually a really good idea. Thanks for that link to the ask a librarian!

[cdozo]

If the local librarian didn't have the needed reference he or she can call a larger library. Public libraries have a network so larger libraries can share reference materials with smaller libraries -- it's called an inter library loan.

[aerodrome1]

There were also City Directories that allowed you to look up who had businesses at a given street address and often had lists of previous tenants/owners--- also check the town hall or clerk of court for tax assessor info--- who pays the taxes on the address, who pays taxes on any business there, who the owner of record is. I'm assuming that by "three letters" you mean pieces of mail rather than an abbreviation, so--- look at the postmarks. In the 1950s-60s the mark often showed which post office the letter had been processed at. It might say "Des Moines 4"--- which would give you a neighborhood in the town where it had been mailed.