Overview
Offering business information users strategies for identifying and evaluating no-cost online information sources, this guide emphasizes techniques for recognizing biased and untrustworthy web sites. Information users are directed to the most useful and targeted sources of company histories and overviews. These include corporate sales and earnings data, SEC filings and stockholder reports, public records, market research studies, competitive intelligence, industry analyses, staff directories, executive biographies, statistics, survey/poll results, conference proceedings, press releases, news stories, and hard-to-find information about small businesses and niche markets. Demonstrated are concepts such as precision searching, which enables business searchers to quickly find the specific information they need. Also discussed are critical-thinking skills and the art of asking the right question. A 10-point checklist that allows users to systematically evaluate web site reliability is included.
About the Author:
Robert Berkman teaches courses on research methods and media ethics at the New School University. He is a frequent speaker at workshops and conferences, including the European Journalism Centre, Maastricht, Netherlands, and Web Search University. He is the past director of secondary research for The Winters Group, a market research firm, and has been the editor of such journals as The Information Advisor and What to Buy for Business. He is the author of Find It Fast: How to Find Information on Any Subject, The Art of Being Well Informed, Find It Online, Finding Business Research on the Web, and Finding Market Research on the Web. He lives in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
Synopsis
Focusing on free sources, Berkman (editor of The Information Advisor newsletter) arms business searchers with techniques for finding reliable, accurate company and industry data on the Web. He covers strategies to use before turning to a Web search engine (libraries, pre-screened sources, indexes and directories, weblogs) but also has plenty to say about effective use of search engines themselves. He provides tips on evaluating information for reliability and bias, and discusses big-picture topics like building up personal knowledge and search intuition. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR