I would say that I definitely agree with his claim that there is a struggle in students to start research. I have found myself dreading the start of a project because of said research and have actively put it off many times. The way that I found that helps me get rid of some of the anxiety is to go slow and research little bits at a time. Also, research in different ways--email professionals, go to different websites, go at a pace that you can handle.
It surprises me that you email professionals to find research, I always feel like I'm disrupting their time with my questions. Do you have any experience that makes it feel better?