Good points, Bob, but just one thing: It might not cost the writer anyting to get published if Phil H accepts an article for publication here on ET, but it costs Phil! He's the one who foots the bill for running the site.
In terms of practical equipment for research, I can't recommend a laptop enough. Most archives these days accept them and have facilities to allow their use. You can get by without one, but it infinitely assists your work, saves time and hand strain with transcribing, and money on photocopying. Often you'll come across documents that you are not permitted to copy due to the age and condition of the item, and it makes life an awful lot easier if you don't have to go through laborious hand transcriptions.
I'd also recommend strong headache medication for use when ploughing through microfilm! (There's nothing quite like the headache a day with this equipment will give you).
When you visit an archive, always have a clear idea of what you're after when you go there. Don't just go in floundering around hopeing to turn up 'something.' Be as specific as possible. Once you've looked into it, you may find other avenues have turned up, and a bit of 'fishing' on spec. can also be productive, but have a direction to start with.
When interviewing people who had family involved in the disaster, do them the courtesy of finding out as much about their relative as you can before you conduct the interview. The best relationships I've established have been with people who were aware that my interest in their relative involved in the wreck was absolutely sincere and specifically focused, not just a general thing, and I'd taken the trouble to find out something about them...even if it's some basic genealogical data, career information, etc. Quite a lot of material is in the public domain if you know where to look.
In addition to publishing on websites, Titanic society journals are also keen on publishing original research - this is another possible avenue for establishing your reputation and for turning up new material that may help your larger project.
Deborah, Bob's suggestions are good ones regarding accessible reprints of newspaper accounts. Of course, these are just a small sampling of the media coverage, limited to two nations - it would be impossible to compile all the international print media stories in one or two sources! You may find that your local library, or the nearest large library, has holdings on microfilm that go back to 1912 and give you a local angle (this is a good way of turning up previously unpublished material on local figures). The British Newspaper Library at Colindale has a wonderful collection of British and foreign newspapers, and is one of my favourite archives.
