Knowing what exists
Of course, you don't. There is information that can be found in a variety of forms: books, articles, statistics, profiles, archives, audio-visual materials [aka films], e-books, MP3s, etc, and you will need to know how to get to each kind of material in the most efficient manner. Reference librarians excel at connecting you to your desired information in the desired form.
You will need to have a clear enough query for them to work on, though. It should be as specific as possible, and articulated in a way that they can ascertain what the subject search should look like. Fortunately for you, that is a part of their training. The main thing is to distill the essence of what you are seeking, and be specific.
Librarians convert your interest into what is called "controlled language" to search for items that have had subject headings attached to them in order to "disambiguate" them. This is one way that a library search leapfrogs over the capabilities of even the most sophisticated search engine.
Your friendly neighborhood librarians:
Arezoo Moseni, Art Librarian, Mid-Manhattan Library
amoseni@nypl.org
Matthew Carson, Associate Librarian/Archivist, ICP
mcarson@icp.org
Matthew Carson, Associate Librarian/Archivist, ICP
mcarson@icp.org
Deirdre Donohue, Stephanie Shuman Librarian, ICP
ddonohue@icp.org
Natalia Rand, Associate Librarian, ICP
nrand@icp.org
Brooke Watkins, Reference Librarian, NYPL
bwatkins@nypl.org
Natalia Rand, Associate Librarian, ICP
nrand@icp.org
Brooke Watkins, Reference Librarian, NYPL
bwatkins@nypl.org
If you cannot reach a librarian, you can try some of their shared tools to find your way through catalogs. There are subject and name authorities that will help you navigate your way along.
This is the first step in you being able to convert your "natural language" questions into a "controlled language" search format, as well as considering related terms for your search you may not have already. Finally, name and geographic authorities confirm the currently accepted form for names so that you are getting the maximum amount of material.
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