Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news.kodak.com!news-pen-14.sprintlink.net!206.229.87.26!news-east.sprintlink.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!Sprint!newsfeed.direct.ca!newshub1.home.com!news.home.com!Supernews60!supernews.com!nntp.primenet.com!news1.mpcs.com!news.iinet.net.au!not-for-mail From: david@cn.net.au (David Novak) Newsgroups: sci.research,comp.infosystems.www.announce,comp.answers,sci.answers,news.answers Subject: Information Research FAQ v.2.4 (Part 1/9) Followup-To: poster Date: 31 Mar 1998 00:00:00 GMT Organization: iiNet Technologies Lines: 275 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Message-ID: <6fqmf1$p3e$1@news.iinet.net.au> NNTP-Posting-Host: as254.nv.iinet.net.au Summary: Information Research FAQ: Resources, Tools & Training Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu sci.research:17376 comp.infosystems.www.announce:21812 comp.answers:30685 sci.answers:8043 news.answers:126712 Archive-name: internet/info-research-faq/part1 Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: Mar 31 1998 URL: http://cn.net.au Copyright: (c) 1998 David Novak Maintainer: David Novak Information Research FAQ (Part 1/9) Before you read further, this information is also available as 1_ The cn.net.au Research Site (http://cn.net.au), a fully html and script empowered Internet website, or 2_ The Information Research Key (http://cn.net.au/tools/infokey.html), this information as free shareware for use on private computers and conditionally published on intranets & library websites. This FAQ serves to highlight the methods, the resources and the skills used in information research with particular interest in the role of the Internet as both a reservoir and gateway to information resources. This FAQ is for researchers who have access to the Internet. Research without the computer is research undertaken with books, articles, interviews, librarians and outside research assistance. Research with the computer includes more commercial databases and Internet resources, as well as books, articles, interviews, etcetera. Many resources suggested here have alternative paper sources not mentioned in the belief that Internet or commercial database links are preferred. This computer bias is unavoidable. This document is the culmination of a year-long effort by Community Networking to make this information available to you. Contribute to its maintenance and improvement! If you find a bad link - tell us. If you know of further resources which belong here, tell us. If you work in the industry, provide us with a contact. We are more than interested to act as a clearing-house for information, questions and advice. Please direct them to David Novak - david@cn.net.au This FAQ does not replace our website: The cn.net.au Research Site ( http://cn.net.au ) This website, with its software, databases and co-opted resources, better suits the process of research and saves time. This website has recently changed dramatically and will be barely recognizable to those who visitted it two months ago. Disclaimer: - This document is provided as is without any express or implied warranties. While effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this FAQ, the author or contributors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. The contents of this FAQ reflect my opinions only and not necessarily those of Community Networking, or its supporters. Contents ----- Part 1 ----- 1. What is Information Research? 2. What does the Internet have to do with Information Research? 3. Research : Step One : Frame the Question / Visualize the Answer 4. Research : Step Two : Select the Tools ----- Part 2 ----- 5. Information Research: Finding a Webpage 6. Information Research: Locating Books 7. Information Research: United Nations Documents 8. Information Research: Finding Articles 9. Information Research: FAQs & Newsgroups 10. Information Research: Theses & Dissertations ----- Part 3 ----- 11. Information Research: Searching Patents 12. Information Research: Commercial Databases 13. Information Research: Database Retailers 14. Information Research: The Information Market 15. Information Research: Research as a Discipline 16. Information Research: Finding Statistics ----- Part 4 ----- 17. Information Research: National Statistical Agencies 18. Information Research: Country Profiles 19. Information Research: Country Info for Travellers 20. Information Research: Business Benchmarks 21. Information Research: Imports & Exports 22. Information Research: Finding a Library ----- Part 5 ----- 23. Information Research: Government Resources 24. Information Research: Zines, Magazines & Journals 25. Information Research: Newswires & News Databases 26. Information Research: Special Interest Groups 27. Information Research: Software & IT Research 28. Information Research: Personal Information ----- Part 6 ----- 29. Information Research: Researching Research 30. Information Research: Unexpected Research Venues ----- Part 7 ----- 31. More on the Internet as a research resource 32. More on the Commercial Information Sphere 33. More on the Information Service Industry 33.1 judging information value 34. Emerging Trends in the information sphere 35. Education and Training in Professional Research 35.1 Facts 35.3 Guidance 35.2 Practice 36. Question and Answer Section 36.1 How do I find information on the Internet? 37. Acknowledgments ----- Part 8 ----- Currently Empty ----- Part 9 ----- Currently Empty ___________________________________________________ 1. What is Information Research? What indeed? I prefer to think of Information Research as an effort to locate answers, efficiently. Information Research is not that vague browsing of available information for something which interests you, nor is it Internet Surfing. Information Research is research with a purpose ... and it is hard work. Information Research is also an art form. The skills, tools, and resources we work with are only the canvass and paints of an artist. It extends from commercial, legal, reporting, through the skills of interviewing, database searching, and research analysis using books, articles, experts, patents. Research is so large a field, involving so many skills, tools and resources, you will quickly find you do not wish to learn it all. At the heart of Information Research lies a simple motto: "Someone, somewhere, probably knows the answer." In this FAQ, I will try to inform you about this exciting field which most people do occasionally, and occasionally do well. I will also describe many of the better resources both on the Internet and further afield. ___________________________________________________ 2. What does the Internet have to do with Information Research? The Internet is an inexpensive system for the delivery of information. It is also the medium of a dramatic shift in the way we access information. 1) A dramatic drop in the cost of publishing is fuelling 2) the liberation of information from previously closed systems, leading to 3) an emergence of alternative funding for certain public resources and 4) an eagerly awaited 'direct to consumer' commercial information industry (currently emerging slowly until an effective digital currency arrives). As a delivery system, you may be surprised to learn I routinely access Dialog through the Internet, at the cost of a local call (without the international call charges). Further, I access the LOCIS, ERIC, MOCAT and AGIP databases directly from their source, free (and not through commercial database marketters). On counterpoint, as an information resource, the Internet is still much too disorganized and poorly prepared to be useful in most situations of professional research. Most often, researching the Internet is no better than browsing the shelf of your state library. What is impressive is the promise of changes to the way we seek information. The Internet as a system suggests radical improvements to the current decade-old systems which have attained their research-worthy status. These improvements, however, have yet to prove their worth, so will remain promising ventures for a time. In some fields, particularly computer related fields, the Internet has already attained parity with books, articles and associations. Just when you will consult the Internet as a research-worthy resource depends on cost, effort, and the quality of the information returned. This judgment call requires more than a little experience. We need to mention the issue of value. I sincerely hope we can suppress our enthusiasm for free information in favour of a more true appraisal of the value of information. Make no mistake, commercial information is brilliant! It is almost heresy to even compare commercial information with the results of a few hours on the Internet. That I have included far more Internet resources in this FAQ actually reflects my familiarity with Internet Research, rather than believing Internet resources are superior to the alternatives. ___________________________________________________ 3. Research : Step One : Frame the Question / Visualize the Answer Researchers work hard at properly framing the research query. Like the photographer, much of the true expertise of a researcher is found in visualizing what they want, before beginning to look. This is the first step in properly undertaking research, and the primary step that wanna-be researchers skip. Sit down and visualize what a successful search would look like in this situation. How many pages? How many documents? What kind of authors and what kind of quality of document? Go through the whole gamut of different types of research tools and think. Could a simple three line newspaper article be considered a successful result? Would a 20 year old dissertation be acceptable? Would a short conversation with an expert suffice? (Incidentally, this same approach works exceptionally well for Internet research.) Now that we know what we want, more or less, lets reframe our question. If you can phrase a question in a way that lends itself to your resource, you are far more likely to get the answers desired. Oddly, this often means you are asking for places where the information resides rather than asking directly for the information. "Where do I find a definitive list of associations?" - works much better than - "What association works with exceptional children?" We can find all the associations we want once we find the definitive list of Associations. Similarly, "Who would know of associations for exception children?" and - "Are there pamphlets of advice for parents of exceptional children?" - and - "What umbrella organizations/specialist libraries exist for exceptional children?" - each direct our attention in different directions. Questions are not right or wrong, just better or worse at illuminating certain aspects of the 'answer'. There are ways to frame questions for commercial databases, for research assistance, for interviews, for getting the truth from to your children. Your skill in phrasing the question has a lot to do with the result. Further, in our post-modern era, notions of accuracy and reliability are warped by the question. Most research should include ample time to refresh and reframe the questions. ___________________________________________________ 4. Research : Step Two : Select the Tools Information Research rests on understanding the technology and an awareness of the resources. In the example above (Section 3), a directory of associations does exist. Here in Australia it is the "Directory of Australian Associations", found in most important Australian libraries. The Australian "Department of Education" has a major interest in promoting exceptional students. In Western Australia, Infolink, a comunity information service, should have a record of major community groups for exceptional students. I have no direct knowledge of umbrella organizations or specialist libraries, though I expect both the education department and Infolink would. A quick search of some large libraries may help us find some of the pamphlets but certainly not all that exist. Knowing of specific resources is helpful. Even better, though, is knowledge of tools which help you find resources: meta-resources. So what if we did not know exceptional students come under the department of education... Did we know who to ask to find out which government department is involved? If you did not know about the directory of associations, who or where would you look for one? Being unfamiliar with meta-tools is a serious handicap - you may find yourself searching hours for something a professional would do on the phone while drinking coffee! This is why much of your work becoming a effective researcher involves learning about the resources and meta-resources for your field. There is a large list of some of them in Part 2. I have an even larger list at http://cn.net.au, (help appreciated,) but each researcher will have their own pool of contacts, favoured research resources and meta-resources. That you are seeking more is most likely the reason you read this FAQ. ___________________________________________________ This document continues as Part 2/9. __________________________________________________ Copyright (c) 1998 by David Novak, all rights reserved. This FAQ may be posted to any USENET newsgroup, on-line service, website, or BBS as long as it is posted unaltered in its entirety including this copyright statement. This FAQ may not be included in commercial collections or compilations without express permission from the author. Please post permission requests to david@cn.net.au ----------------------------------- David Novak - david@cn.net.au