Think about it. What if you want to create a story set in, say, Ontario, Canada or Bath, England or Chimalhuacan, Mexico, yet you've never stepped foot out of the USA? Should that stop you from writing about those places? No way, amigo.

Rather than let the adage limit you, let it challenge you. If you want to write about something you don't know, then you must know more. No big deal there. Aside from the basic necessities, the search for knowledge is the oldest pursuit known to humans. Our brains crave facts as passionately as our stomachs crave food. But unlike our stomachs, our brains will never be satiated. They are capable of holding more information than we'll ever have time to acquire. 

And never in the history of the brain has knowledge been easier to acquire. Even the occasional Internet users are familiar with search engines such as Google. Heck, dictionaries have officially recognized googling as a verb! Yet you will find that as vast as it is, the Internet doesn't have everything. There are still many resources that haven't made it to cyberspace, and probably never will. That's why it's so important to know ... your local library.

If that suggestion elicited a nod, you don't need to read any further. If the suggestion sent a chill up your spine and unleashed a loud Nooooo!, you're probably one of those research-haters who'd rather be flogged by blind owls than to walk inside a library. But that building isn't half as intimidating as you remember from school. Come on, let's go inside, shall we?

First things first. Shut off your cell phone. This is a library, for the love of Pete, not a stadium. Silence rules. Those who don't respect this fact have been known to mysteriously disappear. But you didn't hear that from me.

You still need a library card to check out books, but these days, it looks like a credit card. Some libraries have the application form on their website, so you can print it, fill it in and take it with you on your first visit. (Don't worry, it isn't too personal. Usually asks for name, address, phone, email and your signature.) The card won't cost you a cent. All you need to do is show ID, to prove you are who you say you are. If you lose your card, they will charge to replace it. But you aren't going to lose yours. Tuck it in your wallet right behind your driver's license. There you go.

Look around the place. Remember the card catalogs you used to thumb through? Gone. What you see is a bay of computers here and there. Very similar to the one you have at home. These contain the library's catalog. The home page will show several search options, including author, title, subject, etc. Of course if you know the title or author of the book, you're good to go. But what if you don't?

Let's say you're looking for Moby Dick by Herman Melville. But all you remember is the story contains a whale. Click the Subject button. Type whales. The search engine comes back with 17 matches. And look at #6: Whales Fiction. Click that and the fifth item on the list is none other than Moby Dick by Herman Melville.

Next, let's check the letters/numbers beside the title. You will remember the public library is broken into several sections for easy organization. Nonfiction (which uses the Dewey Decimal System--more on that later), fiction (F), young adult (YA), juvenile (J), periodicals (PER), reference (R). We want the original novel, penned by Herman himself, so we look for a big fat F. Thar she blows!

If your library has more than one branch, a glance to the right column will show which branches have this particular book. They're usually listed in abbreviated form, so find your library. Is it in the column? Yes? Yay! Let's click the title and check the status. In. Another yay! The book is here in the building, not checked out. All we have to do is go fetch the thing.

Oh, by the way, if your book is not at your branch, you can do an interlibrary loan. Simply click on Reserve, enter the account number on your library card, and choose at which branch you wish to retrieve the book. In a day or so, you'll receive a phone call or an email telling you it has arrived.

But where is it here?

Okay, etch this upon the old noggin: Fiction is shelved in alphabetical order by the author's last name. That's all you have to know. See the sign hanging from the ceiling that reads, Fiction? That's where we want to go.

As we approach the shelves, you'll notice the ends are tagged with letters: A-C, D-F, on and on. Let's keep going until we come to the shelves that include the letter M. Also notice these shelves come in sections. Books are shelved left to right, top to bottom. When we come to the end of the bottom shelf, we rise from our squat and continue our search in the next section, on the top shelf. Melville, Melville ... there it is. Wasn't that easy?

I also wanted to get a book on writing. The Elements of Style by William Strunk.

All righty, then. Let's head back to the computer. You have several options, of course, but let's click Title. Type Elements of Style. This one brings back 2 matches. And the columns look a bit more cluttered. That's because we have stepped into the realm of nonfiction, where books are stored by category, and we must deal with those dreaded ... numbers.

Noooooooo!

Hold on. Don't shy away from a bunch of numbers. They can't hurt you. In the 1870s, a librarian by the name of Melvil Dewey wanted a logical way to organize books, so he invented the Dewey Decimal System and ... wait a minute, I'll let you research that on your own.

Right now, let's focus on the numbers. The technical term is call numbers. And the purpose of call numbers on the spine of a library book is to tell you where the book resides. Otherwise, you could spend days in the library before you found it. And think how cranky that would make you. The three numbers to the left of the decimal point denotes the category, and the numbers to the right of the decimal point denotes a more specific topic. For instance, there are books on writing and then there are books on writing fiction and then there are books on writing fiction for children. The more specific the topic, the more numbers to the right.

I don't care. Where the heck is it?

Click on the title. Check its status. Here? WooHoo! Write down the call number, which for this book is 808.042. Look around for the nonfiction section. It's over there with the big sign that reads, Nonfiction. Again, check the tags at the ends of the shelves. This time, you will find numbers. And what do you know, these are the same numbers you'll find to the left of the decimal point! Let's keep walking until we come to the 808 shelves. Once we're there, we hone in on the numbers to the right of the decimal point. .042, .042 ... There it is! Tiny book, isn't it? Almost missed it.

I want to go home. How do I check out?

But there's so much more to cover. Libraries also provide information via microfilm, cassettes, CDs, DVDs, as well as librarians. And we haven't even been to the reference area yet. That's where you'll do lots of in-depth research. You can't check out those books. You have to bring your pad and pen.

Some other time.

Right. Baby steps. Let's head for the counter beneath the sign that reads, Check Out. Whip out your library card and let the lady swipe it. Next, she will scan your books. Congratulations! You are the proud borrower of two books!

Here, you can keep books for two weeks at a pop. The fine library folk will even stamp the due date on paper bookmarks for you and slip them into your books. (Libraries may vary.) But if you find you need more time, you can call or go online and renew most books for two more weeks. Whatever you do, don't snub your due date! That's just downright inconsiderate. After all, someone might be waiting for the very book that's gathering dust on your bedside table.

Happy reading!