Carine Research

Go to who cares about the information

Nov. 1st | Posted by 0 comments

November 2011

Many years ago, I picked up a helpful tip from Mary Ellen Bates (batesinfo.com) on where to start looking for information when you are stumped on a research request.

Go to who cares about the information. It’s a simple point, but it’s very helpful in pointing you to the industry bodies, regulatory agencies and experts who can help you to start piecing together some reliable information.

I was pleased this week, when I ran a presentation on business research for information professionals in South Australia, that many attendees remarked that the simple tip of ‘go to who cares’ was a very useful tip, and explained in a few words, what they naturally tend to do when researching tricky questions.

Before you start throwing words into Google or your preferred online search tools think about which sources are the most likely to have reliable information on the topic you are researching.

The best sources for reliable information are those that care about the topic, and are therefore likely to be reliable sources of information.

Who cares enough about the industry, company or person that you are researching that they will provide information that is reliable?

They may be specialist publishers, industry groups, expert commentators or colleagues regarded for their expertise on the topic.

If you are looking for free information from the internet, aim for sources that are obliged to provide reliable information, such as regulatory bodies for corporate information.

Consider also the bias of information that is provided by groups, such as industry and lobby groups.

Get to know the offerings of the commercial business publishers, and what to expect from their various services and publications, so you can clearly state why a source is used, and what information is included and excluded in the source.

 


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