These books written by a single author can yield a great amount of research and scholarly perspective on particular topics of interest. Many such monographs have become the seminal authority on a field of research. Many monographs are attacks on such seminal authorities. Looking at diverse works and scholarly opinions in conflict can provide a richly contextualized research paper. There is absolutely no way to avoid the use of computers in the construction of your research paper.
Library catalogues are only the tip of the iceberg.
The research paper is an act of scholarship. It should cohere generally with the MLA style sheet, or any other such accepted format. This means that you must document your sources with either footnotes, endnotes, or parentheticals, and, include a comprehensive bibliography. Length for this paper is really a very relative matter but it is difficult to conceive of a decent treatment in less than four or five pages. The only limit is your imagination.