oxfordtweed | My Favourite Resources

I do a lot of odd research, but there are some places I find invaluable for their very specific collections of information. Others are quite diverse, but may only give you a general idea.

Here's a list of places I have bookmarked, some of which I visit almost daily:

Cab fare! Gives you an estimated fare and route to expect. Combine this with...

Google Maps, particularly Street View, and there's no reason whatsoever for location!fail. Even if Street View may not be exactly up to date, it still gives you a good idea of what the area looks like.

There's also a very high-quality map of Great Britain, which outlines all of the counties. It's a couple years old, but I doubt anything's changed too terribly dramatically since 2009.

Speaking of Great Britain, my not-British friends may find this video helpful. It explains the differences between the UK, Great Britain, England, the Commonwealth, and more.

On the subject of maps, how about a Map of the Sky? Has information on distance, right ascension, declination, composition, alternative names, and everything else on more celestial bodies than the mind can comprehend. If you're really detail-oriented, you can use this information to...

calculate the distances between celestial bodies. First, you'll need to get a bit more info on triangulation. I spent about two days doing it by hand in a notebook during Nano, before I found these sites. They have saved me hours of tedious maths.

The Law in the United Kingdom category on Wikipedia has come in amazingly useful for four different fandoms over the last three years. I think every fandom person on my F-list should find this one helpful, since you all come from one of two, both which are about solving insane mysteries somewhere in England.

Similarly, you may want to familiarise yourself with UK police ranks, should you be writing for a fandom which would involve them. Especially if you are quite familiar with American police structure. It's very different.

Speaking of which, get your British slang right. You really don't want to embarrass yourself by calling a condom a 'rubber.'

Need to display a telephone number? Use one of these. The don't belong to anybody.

You may also want to familiarise yourself with London postal districts. They can make that cab fare thing in the first link so much easier.

One for the Sherlock fandom in particular, although still useful for other areas, is this collection of first-hand reports from drug users.

Another one the Sherlock fandom may find helpful is AVEN - the Asexual Visibility and Education Network.

There are also a few places I go for general searching. Yahoo!Answers can have some really obscure questions with some great answers. Great for simple questions.

little_details is probably the best place to go for research. If they don't have what you're looking for, you can post a question, and someone will know the answer. This is great for those questions that have multiple parts, or are just so strange, you don't even know where to start.

Perhaps surprisingly, TVTropes can be terribly helpful as well.

And, of course, we can't forget Wikipedia in general. BE WARNED: these last two links have a reputation for sucking away entire hours of a person's life. Click at your own risk.

And, when all else fails, Google.