Your research plans
- Develop a frame of reference, and write it down as a complete sentence, using no
more than 25 words. The shortest blurb you wrote should work well for this step. - Next, mind map or outline everything you need to research. This is to give you a
quick overview. It's a good idea to print this mind map out so that you can glance at it
as you work. You'll find that if you're online, or at the library, it's tempting to explore
other avenues. These avenues may well be productive, and you can explore them at
some stage, but not while you're trying to write your proposal. Once you start writing,
your only goal should be: "get it done". - Do a general search on the Web using a search engine like Google.com to locate
additional areas you could explore. - If you find mention of any online groups or mailing lists which seem appropriate
for your subject, join them. The members may be able to provide you with anecdotes
or other information. - Make a note of companies which are mentioned in your Web search. Can they help
you? The benefit of asking companies to help you in your research is free, current
information. Most companies will be only too pleased to help, for the PR boost you
can give them. Make a note to yourself to acknowledge them in your book. If any
company has given you a lot of help, it's a nice gesture to send them a copy when the
book's published. - Check periodical indices for articles which might be useful. Once you needed to
trudge along to the library for this kind of help, but LexisNexis
(http://www.lexis.com/ ) is faster.
(^)
- Are there any books which could help you? Try http://www.amazon.com to find recent
books on your topic. (You may already have notes on these books which you
collected while you were trying to come up with an idea for a book.)