Using a board to think about moves: is this OK?

Originally posted by RDM
The only time I used a board I spent a few hours working out a win with a king and 2 bishops.

Then promptly forgot how I did it.

Hey... i can see using a real board to analyze moves during and after a move, or the rhp game analyzer thing, but using books and chess databases seems like the wimpy thing to do, a cheap cop-out.