While working on the project, Tsao and employees of the BOT's economics research division scoured libraries and archives around Taiwan. They also traveled to Japan, Hong Kong, the US and Europe to copy, collate, and translate documents, gazetteers, informal essays, poetry, prose and other information pertaining to Taiwanese history.
期間，曹永和與台銀經研室人員走遍全台各圖書館和檔案室，遠赴日本、香港、美國、歐洲考察時，也特地到當地圖書館抄錄、整理、翻譯與台灣史有關的各種文獻、方志、隨筆、雜誌、詩文等資料。