Internet Research - Sample Workshop Outline - Judith West

INTERNET RESEARCH:
WINNING AT VIRTUAL HIDE-AND-SEEK

BASIC UNDERSTANDINGS

·         Research by Any Other Name...

corporate intelligence - knowledge management - content - content development -
data mining - info mining  fact finding - fact checking - verification -
investigation - intelligence gathering - information brokering

·        General Issues, Concepts, & Misconceptions

·        Browsing vs. Searching

·        Terminology

·        Reading URLs & search results

·        Web Page Pieces-Parts

·        Your Link Collections

·        Bookmarks & Favorites

·        Deli-cio-us et al.

·        Browser features you never looked for

·        The Invisible Web

·        Well-Researched Info Needed in Business, for instance, to support...

·        Learning — keeping up, conversing intelligently with clients & colleagues, coping with overload

·        Growth — improving products & services, locating talent

·        Marketing & Sales — market & consumer profiles & intelligence

·        Competition — Spotting trends & new developments, competitive business intelligence

·        The Content Machine — Client projects, Web development, internal & external communications

STRATEGY / TACTICS / TECHNIQUES

·        Profile of an Internet Research Diva

·         An intelligent, intuitive, efficient investigator who…
     Saves clients time, money, & frustration by…
          Finding targeted info through “Directed Research” — research with a
          point-of-view — to…
               Become the As-Needed Expert-of-Choice

·         Uses a solid Information-Finding Process (the elements often overlap):

Locate – Assess – Filter – Digest – Interpret – Synthesize –
Organize – Contextualize – Customize

·        Lateral / Peripheral / Non-Linear Thinking

·         Project

·         Topic

·         Querying

·        Profiling: Beyond “Can you tell me…?”

·        Search Engine as Oracle

·        Go to School — Educator assets

·        When to Stop — or …“Help! I’ve fallen into the Internet and I can’t get up!”

TOOLS

·         Search Engines, Metasearch Engines, and Special Configurations

·         Directories: Human-edited resources

·         News Sites

·         Paid Database Services…and how to get around them sometimes

·         Free Databases

·         Likely Spots Within Likely Sites… plus some Backdoors

·         Resource Resources — Treasuries from librarians & other info mavens

·         Your Library Card

·         ListServs, Online Forums‌/‌Discussions, & Newsgroups

·         e-Newsletters & Newsletters

·         Web 2.0

·         Specialty Reference Sites‌/‌Services

SCANNING SEARCH RESULTS & EVALUATING SITES

·         Filtering vs. Tightening vs. Refocusing Your Query

·         Evaluating a Web Source

·         Remember books?

·         Profiling the Site or Page Owner

·         Red Flags

·         More Resources on Site evaluation

·        P.S. - Don’t throw that dubious site away!

RECORDING & DELIVERING YOUR RESULTS

·        Keeping Track of Your Results

·        The Purpose-Driven Delivery Format — “Why do you/your client want this information?”

 

 

to book research services or how-to seminars,
email Judith

© 2008 by Judith West