This Quest ended at midnight, server time (12:00 AM Thursday, May 15).
XP bonuses will be distributed within the next few days.
In all, 83 well-researched writeups were contributed to the [nodegel].
Thanks to everyone who contributed!

Here's a new kind of [Everything Quests|Quest] for you guys to throw yourself into. The name of the game is [research]. The topic is whatever you want it to be, as long as your writeup is factual (i.e., not a short story or other creative work). The goal is to research your writeup as thoroughly as possible, using multiple reputable sources of information.

Now, the catch: you may not use [Web page]s as documented sources. Not even one [URL], if you want to take part in this Quest. You're going to do your research the old-fashioned way, the way your high school composition class taught you: in the [library], the [newspaper], [magazine]s, and professional [interview]s. While Web sources are useful and reliable (well, on the right sites), I want this Quest to demonstrate that noders can do good research away from their browsers when they have to.

Here's the [ground rules]:

This quest is organized and judged by me, [mblase], and sponsored by [Rancid Pickle]. He will be handing out XP bonuses at Quest's end, while I'll handle the judging and other niggly details.
You may choose any topic you like, as long as your writeup is factual. You are not required to choose a new node with no writeups, but if you're amplifying existing writeups, make sure your writeup is good enough to stand there on its own.
Writeups must be up to [composition]-class standards: good [punctuation], [spelling] and [grammar], [topic sentence]s in each paragraph, all that stuff. There's no point in researching your facts if your writing isn't going to reflect your hard work.
To keep people from just punching these things out, there is a minimum 800-word count on each writeup submitted for the Quest. To get a conceptual idea, this is the average length of a typical article in a major newspaper.
You must use at least two books for each writeup. This will earn you 25 XP right off the bat. Yes, that is an incentive.
Additional XP bonuses will be given based on how many non-electronic sources you employ, in proportion to the length of your writeup. What this means is: don't pretend you used twenty sources to research a ten-paragraph writeup. Make every source count in terms of how much content it produces for you. Don't think I won't double-check your list myself at the library if I think you're just making shit up. A maximum bonus of 50 XP exists for each writeup. This, of course, is over and above any XP you may gain from ordinary voting and C!s.
No electronic sources of any kind will be acceptable for this Quest, even if you have ten non-electronic sources besides it. Don't waste your time. Even if you search for magazine or newspaper articles online, I'm still going to make you go to the library to get a page number. One noder has asked if a television biography is acceptable, and I said yes -- by "electronic" I mean stuff you can read or search on your computer.
Your "sources used" list at the end of your writeup should be a regular [bibliography], professionally cited. (One noder points out the [Harvard Referencing System] as one acceptable standard.) There are a near-infinite number of subtle variations on the format depending on the work you're citing, so ask your local librarian if you don't remember how to do it.
[Plagiarism] will not be tolerated.
This Quest will last for three weeks, beginning the minute this writeup was created. /Msg me ([mblase]) when your writeup is complete, and it will be hardlinked from this writeup.

Now, here's some free suggestions:

Pick something you're interested in. Remember, it doesn't need to be a [nodeshell]. Find nodes that lack content and knock those old sloppy writeups out of the water.
Factual doesn't have to be boring. Pick your favorite author, band or poet; your favorite school subject or after-school activity; a major event in history that impacted your family; an invention that you couldn't imagine living without. (Whoever softlinked [The Content Rescue Team : Nodes] was a shrewd noder.)
Unlike your composition class, E2 encourages imaginative writing style. So if your writeup is more in the vein of "[Rolling Stone]" or "[Maxim]" than "[Newsweek]," it's still good stuff. Research is what's important here, not stuffiness.
Don't skimp on these writeups, people. Anyone can type out three paragraphs using Web pages as source material, but a few well-chosen books will give you enough for three pages and more besides. Make your teachers proud of the time they spent with you.
If it fits the requirements, feel free to [node your homework]!
[Think outside the box] when choosing source material. After you've found what you needed at the library, or in your own bookshelves, search through some magazines or professional journals. Search the major newspapers. If you really want to earn your XP bonus, cite a personal interview with a knowledgable source. (If they want to know why they're taking time with you, tell them you're researching an article for an online publication. They'll probably be too impressed to say no.)

That's it. Let's crack those books, kids --

[Kalkin] says Could you add [Unification of Italy] to the quest?
[know_no_bounds] says Hi again--I'd like to submit my writeup on the origin and etymology of the word [poontang] to your quest. Thanks!
[nuclear] says Just under the wire, I submit [nucleosynthesis] for the library quest.
[elem_125] says And another for the quest - [Ways to overthrow a government]
[Cletus the Foetus] says [early modern political economy] is ready to go
[Kalkin] says Could you consider adding [Jet Propulsion] to the quest?
[bishopred1] says didn't take as long to format as i thought.... [Women and Divorce in Colonial Philadelphia]
[wunderhorn1] says For the quest: [An Introduction to Data Compression, MPEG Video, and DVD Technology]

[CatherineB] says Also [The death of Federico García Lorca] if you want.
[Noung] says I've added a write-up to [the Dutch Revolt] for the quest
[edibleplastic] says I'd like to submit [The Metaphysics of Mathematics: Frege vs. Brouwer] for the quest. Probably needs to be retitled ;)
[elem_125] says for the quest, I bring you [email], including the use of the paper version of the jargon file!
[lemur] says another for the quest: [British prisons] (unless I'm too late?)
[BrooksMarlin] says I sumbit [I hate Ronald Reagan, but I love He-Man] for the quest. You should thank the man for the Transformers you love so dearly.
[Monkeylover] says umm, might it be possible to put in one more node for the quest? i'd like to submit [The Strange Career of Jim Crow] also.
[know_no_bounds] says Hello again...with only the slightest hint of shame, I'd like to submit [split beaver] to your quest. Thanks!
[Noung] says [The Expulsion of the Moriscos] is getting lonely, can you add him to your quest node please? Thanks!
[CatherineB] says If the quest's still open, here's [José Antonio Primo de Rivera.]
[Hermes_wr] says For the Library Quest can I offer up my [Genesis 2] writeup
[Rathera] says for your quest: [Berkeley in the 60's]

[drownzsurf] says Please accept my [Constitutional Convention of 1787] for your quest. Please bear with my tweaking it, still.
[poikax] says How about [The Arcades Project] for the quest? Node a book and you're half way there.
[turiya] says [From Cruelty to Goodness] is a recount of a piece I researched for a course. If it fits the quest, add it, please. :-)
[twilight009] says Just wrote [Making Democracy Work] -- had the idea just prior to the quest starting, would love to see it linked to the quest. Thanks
[Davidian] says [agate] , yet another gem for the quest
[409] says one for your quest : [sewing machine]
[Imprecation] says I submit [Humphrey Clinker] to the quest. It's epic, man. Epic. ;-)
[Deckard97] says Okay dude, the final corrections have been made. Could you hardlink [The Corpus Christi Plays] to the Everything Library Quest ?
[know_no_bounds] says Hi--I'd like to submit [labia minora] to your quest.
[shokwave] says I submit a node about that lovable UFO nut [George Adamski] for your quest
[stewacide] says [Canada-France Relations] should apply if the quest is still running ...written for my Canadian Foreign Relations class (I cut it down a bit to work better as a w/u however)
[The Debutante] says I offer [Nero] for your quest, should you wish a biography based on ancient texts! :)

[mcd] says I am submitting [The Cheese and the Worms] for the quest. Thanks for the opportunity.
[GrouchyOldMan] says I'd like to offer the following tale of woe for the quest: [Oil Spill] .
[Noung] says Another for the quest: [Foreign policy under Queen Elizabeth I]
[blessedangel] says hi, this about the local library quest. take a look at my WU on [salem witch trials] and let me know if its okay! thanks and take care.
[mirv] says I submit [Hun] for your quest (/great/ idea, BTW).
[keops] says Writeup posted on [John C. Fremont] that also qualifies for the quest.
[Davidian] says here's another gem for your most excellent library quest, [Lapis lazuli]
[st0rm] says i am submitting [The role of discipline in the workplace] to the quest, and best of luck for its contiuence!
[keops] says [California Gold Rush] , offered up for your quest.
[doubleb747] says wrote write up on [Czechoslovakia During the Cold War Era]
[turkeyphant] says Just noded [In The Duchess Of Malfi, the horrors of act IV, scene i are less important than the characters' reaction to them|my essay] for your quest.
[Noung] says A quest write-up: [Viet Minh]
[Burbage] says Not sure this counts for the quest, but... [reader and superreader]

[Reece] says My very first writeup submitted for your quest: [memory]
[Cinderella] says I just posted a piece on The Catcher in the Rye, and I would like to ask that it be considered for the Quest... the node is called [when a body catch a body] . thanks!
[shokwave] says I submit [Unusual Natural Phenomena] for the quest
[Noung] says For your quest: [positive rights]
[The Custodian] says Quest addition: [The Back of the Envelope: An Example of Informal Military Analysis]
[gbulmer] says Hey, node for the quest.... [Is the Aeneid a piece of Pro-Augustan Propaganda]? Great idea for quest.
[SharQ] says Good afternoon sir. Please accept my offer of [American Gothic] for the quest.
[oakling] says i'd like to submit [surrealism in the beatles' music] to the research quest dealie... it's a long-ago art history paper.
[Oolong] says Please meet [trigonometry] .
[Noung] says Another quest write-up: [Disorder and Rebellion in Tudor England]

[Noung] says My first contribution for this wonderful affair: [August Approaches: Vietnamese Communism During the Second World War]. Thanks!
[bookw56] says I submit [The Use of Insanity in Edgar Allan Poe's Short Stories] to the quest. Huzzah :-)
[grimly fiendish] says For the quest [Depression in Women]
[cjeris] says I didn't really write [Leibniz rule] for the quest, but I submit it for your consideration anyway
[grimly fiendish] says For the quest [Suicide with Daddy's Gun]
[frankdeluxe] says Okay, that should be better: Here is [Arnor] for the Quest!
[Cimorene] says Another one for the quest: [Karl Marx and his world view]
[Davidian] says [Beer], we all love it, we all enjoy it, just keep it outside the library, and we're ok :^) Here's my submission for your quest. Great idea for a quest, btw.
[GrouchyOldMan] says Wow, this quest has produced some classic nodes already! Pls consider [Stained Glass Primer] for the list.
[d313rium] says submited for your quest is my writeup in [Existentialism]

[lpard] says quest submission: [Madame Pompadour]
[bishopred1] says last one for a while, unless i find something. but here you go: [Imperialist culture v. Native traditions]
[grimly fiendish] says Another for your quest - [Psychosurgery]
[Gartogg] says my node [quantum computing] is up and eligible for the quest
[decimetre] says Hi, my submission for the quest: [positive rights]. Thanks.
[oblivius] says I've submitted a w/u to the [Inclusion] node for your quest.
[CatherineB] says Here's [Lavr Kornilov] for the quest.
[Cimorene] says I'd like to offer [Columbus and the natives], written for my World Civ class for your quest.

[ bishopred1] says another for your quest - [Unusual ways to obtain a divorce]
[JediBix783] says hi, I'd like to submit [King John in Ireland] for the quest, thanks!
[grimly fiendish] says [Critical thinking] submitted for your quest.
[ignu] says for my w/u [Abortion is morally permissible] i used only books and the library's microfishe so consider adding it to the quest page. Thanks.
[TheLutenist] says Here is my submission for the Research Quest: [Protest Songs and Social Movements]
[Gartogg] says for the quest my writeup [The Six Day War, Syria and Jordan] is done
[bishopred1] says another for the quest... [Confucius]
[lemur] says my submission for the quest: [Russian democracy] :)
[littlerubberfeet] says I sumbit to you: [The History of Film in China] for that quest
[bishopred1] says submitted for your quest - [Japanese Feudalism]

Everything Quests: Support Your Local Library (idea)