Keyword Research and the Library

I did some keyword research in a very popular niche recently. I already knew the market was heavily saturated, but I am using Mark Ling's AffiloJetPack model to jump start my affiliate business. Mark says that even in dense affiliate markets, there is still room for success. While I do believe this to be true, I still want to find something that makes my site unique.

I went to the library to research this niche a little. The library? How slow, and how...well I got a laugh from my husband. I didn't want to read endless forum posts, other affiliate sites or other websites to start with, because I didn't want to start with a head full of ideas that could be disjointed, done to death or even incorrect.

I found 2 books at the library, one written in the 80's and one in the last 5 years. The one from the 80's, while pretty badly written, had a refreshing take on the age-old subject I was wanting to get into. The cool thing was, I found information there that has not yet been articled to death by other IM's.

I tried out 4-5 keywords in google adwords and NO PPC ads came back. I tried the top 5 site results and none were affiliate sites, although these keywords are totally relevant to the topic. Can looking backward, using the library, and having an open mind about how hard research can lead to great results make a difference? I haven't started the ads yet, but I will keep you posted. This could be great, hope so.