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Archive-name: internet/pro-research-faq
Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: Jul 26, 1997 URL: http://cn.net.au Copyright: (c) 1997 David Novak Maintainer: David Novak <david@cn.net.au> See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
Professional Information Research FAQ
This FAQ serves to highlight the methods, the resources and the skills
used in professional 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 online databases and Internet
websites, 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.
You may have experience in professional information research and I am
more than interested to act as a clearing-house for information,
questions and advice. Please direct them to David Novak -
david@cn.net.au
A much altered version of this FAQ is available at http://cn.net.au
where I am pioneering alternative ways to present information on this
topic. This FAQ is relatively concise as more information is available
at this website.
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
1. What is Professional Information Research?
2. What does the Internet have to do with Professional Research?
3. Research : Step One : Frame the Question / Visualize the Answer
4. Research : Step Two : Select the Tools
5. Research Worthy Resources: Vectors
5.1 books 5.6 statistics
5.2 articles 5.7 patents
5.3 primary experience 5.8 theses
5.4 websites 5.9 further research sources
5.5 newsprint
6. Research Worthy Resources: Venues
6.1 libraries 6.6 associations
6.2 research databases 6.7 periodicals
6.3 secondary experience 6.8 Internet search engines
6.4 government 6.9 Internet discussion groups
6.5 faqs 6.10 further meta-resources
7. Specialty Research Resources
7.1 legal research 7.2 computer field research
7.3 researching research 7.4 researching as a student
8. More on the Internet as a research resource
9. More on the Commercial Information Sphere
10. More on the Information Service Industry
10.1 judging information value
10.2 buying information assistance
11. Emerging Trends in the information sphere
12. Education and Training in Professional Research
12.1 Facts 12.3 Guidance
12.2 Practice
13. Question and Answer Section
13.1 How do I find information on the Internet?
14. Acknowledgments
___________________________________________________
1. What is Professional Information Research?
What indeed? I prefer to think of Professional Research as an effort to
locate answers, efficiently. Professional Research is not that vague
browsing of available information for something which interests you, nor
is it Internet Surfing. Professional Research is the real research...
and it is hard work.
Professional 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. Professional 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. The basic motto: "Someone, somewhere,
probably knows something you want to know."
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 link
to many of the better resources both on the Internet and further afield.
For an alternative entry to this topic, consider visiting
http://cn.net.au where I have put even more of my effort.
___________________________________________________
2. What does the Internet have to do with Professional 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 on hold 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 providers).
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 research computer information, the Internet
has already begun to usurped the traditional roles of books, manuals and
small 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.
I sincerely hope we can suppress our enthusiasm for free information in
favour of a more true appraisal of the value of information. 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 alternative sources.
___________________________________________________
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 describe it. Could a simple three line newspaper article be
considered a successful search? Would a 20 year old dissertation be
acceptable? Would a short conversation with an expert suffice?
(Incidentally, this same approach works exceptionally well in 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'. (Keep in mind a
post-modern view of research. Everything, including notions of accuracy
and reliability, are warped by the question and the position of both the
researcher, the information source and the end user.)
Most research should include ample time to refresh and reframe the
questions.
___________________________________________________
4. Research : Step Two : Select the Tools
Professional Research rests on understanding the technology and an
awareness of the resources. In the example above (Section 3), a
directory of associations does exist, Directory of Australian
Associations, found in most important Australian libraries. The
government's 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 professional researcher
involves learning about the resources and meta-resources for your field.
There is a large list of some of them coming up and I am trying to
create 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.
__________________________________________________
5. Research Worthy Resources: Vectors
Information about the Information Sphere is extremely disorganized. Html
appears to be better suited for organizing certain topics (like country
profile data), but this is another effort to present a map/description
to the largely undocumented sphere. A research vector is a format of
information, and is distinct from Research Venues, section 6. Each
vector has certain qualities to them and usually distinct entry points
too. This section includes: books, articles, primary experience,
websites, newsprint, statistics, patents, theses, and further research
sources
__ 5.1 books
Books are dense, factual and comprehensive. They also describe
assimilated research and opinion, a minimum 6 months to a year old by
definition - usually much older.
# Most free on-line books are indexed at Books Online, Carnegie Mellon
University.
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/booksubjects.html
Other books exist on the Internet, but will be hard to find unless you
have a lead.
# I know of Government Publication Databases for these countries:
Australian Government Index of Publications (1992+)
http://www.agps.gov.au/products/agip.htm
Monthly Catalog of US Government Publications(MOCAT-1994+)
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/adpos400.html
# The (US) Library of Congress (LOCIS) is available in two formats: The
Official site is http://lcweb.loc.gov/catalog/, but don't go there, the
Library of Congress Experimental Search System is less busy and more
effective.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/resdev/ess/
# Other free large book databases include:
Australian National Library Card Catalogue
telnet://ilms.nla.gov.au
and perhaps large online bookstores like Amazon.Com
http://www.amazon.com
# The definitive source for books is a collection of national book
databases: Australian Books in Print, US Books in Print, UK Books in
Print and I think South African Books in Print. Collectively these are
found as World Books in Print. Thankfully, your local bookstore is
likely to have subscriptions to one of these. Again, other books exist
in the world, but will be hard to find unless you have a lead.
# Emerging resources include Commercial Book Stores, Author Fan Clubs,
Book Discussion Lists and Online Book Review Archives. Many forums also
include occasional book reviews, or offer a venue to ask advice on
interesting books.
# Locating Book Reviews, thanks to Monash University Library
(Australia).
http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/hss/guides/fsreview.htm
__ 5.2 articles
Articles have a statement of quality, currency and editorial vetting.
Sometimes articles are long, unique and informative. Sometimes articles
are short, simple, trite. There are a range of ways to access articles -
though none particularly inexpensive. Further, there is copyright to
consider - most researchers are restricted to using certain expensive
systems when undertaking paid assistance.
# Online Databases of Full Text Articles
# Full Text Articles on CD-Rom
# Gale Directory of Databases (bi-annual in two volumes)
# Online and Printed Bibliography Databases
# CARL
# Articles directly out of Journals
# Direct Purchase from publishers
# Online Databases of Full Text Articles
This really is the new wave of database access. Buying them online also
simplifies the purchase of copyright. There are many commercial
databases of full text articles available. Access requires an account
with a commercial database marketter (Dialog, BRS, AOL) and a
familiarity with the system used to access this information. Each
commercial marketter will have their own directory of databases and
books about how to search (though Sections 6.2, 9 & 12 of this FAQ may
assist you). We now have a collective search engine of commercial
database descriptions, found on http://cn.net.au/tools/
# Full Text Articles on CD-Rom
An alternative to Online is information prepared on CD-Rom. These are
only occassionally the type of services which individuals would consider
buying, but all major research libraries, and increasingly major public
libraries, are purchasing these services for their patrons.
A recent full text article CD-Rom station has a brilliant future. Up to
500 journals are updated frequently in this inexpensive format. And most
Research Libraries have this station. I know Edith Cowan University
jumped ahead by buying one for each of their four campuses (each cost
A$10,000+).
A side note on these sources: research libraries are often filled with
research students. Odd coincidence really, but this means the best
resources (read full text article CD-Rom stations) are inevitably booked
out. There are also frequent computer difficulties - as the equipment is
not often state of the art.
# The Gale Directory of Databases (bi-annual in two volumes) is the
definitive source of information on databases (though cracks are
appearing). Most important libraries have a copy, though not often on
the open shelves.
# Online and Printed Bibliography Databases
Yes, there are far more of these. These databases are just like the full
text databases - just they only provide you with the bibliographic
details. The alternative is a variety of printed directories. APAIS,
PAIS, ERIC, all started life as a print directory of publications, and
most still live on in this format.
# CARL
Carl, one of the great library groups in North America established a
service to provide articles by post or fax. They dutifully provide an
Internet access point, and they are working at colluding with major
libraries, but I am still unfamiliar with this service.
# Articles directly out of Journals
Of course, this is the main stay of article research. Find a library
nearby which holds the journal then read or photocopy it then and there.
Of course, this only works well if you have a useful bibliography to
work from. An alternative is to consider an Inter-Library Request for an
article. These services are not offered by all libraries, and while
inexpensive, will take a month over to arrive. In Western Australia, the
State Library offers a service to search the holdings of most Australian
Libraries, which greatly simplifies this task.
# Direct Purchase from publishers
There are always the opportunity to source back issues of periodicals
direct from the publisher. Copyright payments can also be determined
this way. Trouble is both are so extremely expensive and time consuming.
Thankfully, the Copyright Councils are working on a solution based on
pre-negotiated rates with themselves as the payment source. Let me
rediscover more about this and report back.
__ 5.3 primary experience
Experts can offer firsthand knowledgable experience in a personal and
factual manner. They can also be a pain in the butt. There is a whole
sphere of study in how to interview an expert, championed by the
newspaper reporter (who often does little else), but the basics are not
hard to understand.
1) Locate someone who is deeply involved in an issue
2) Try to interest them in discussing their views
3) Ask a few pertinent questions, but mostly just summarize their words
and look interested.
Finding experts is not hard too.
# Relevant Associations
# Government departments
# Accademic staff
# Book authors or impressive article authors
In each case, you merely need to interest them in coffee and get a
highly informed description of their experience. Be aware that all
experts are potentially biased, but most often invaluable.
Experts are also brilliant sources for finding additional sources of
information: try to take out your research to date and quickly describe
where you have been. The expert is unlikely to learn of a new source
(though they hope to), but will certainly end up recommending some
source you had not considered.
__ 5.4 websites
Websites are often of unknown age, of only guessed at quality and
potentially the easiest information to retrieve. There are many points
of entry into this field, but only a few are quick enough to be useful
in serious research (as distinct from recreational surfing).
Finding the WebSite
Please do not think a simple scan of several Internet search engines
will suffice to search anything on the Internet. There is a much clearer
description of this in the research studies section (Section 12). If you
find something useful in this way, count yourself lucky.
A better approach is to move through the various systems and structures
on the Internet till you find the one most rewarding. Information clumps
together. Information does not exist in isolation but instead is
developed in context, is reinforced, and develops progressively. This is
why a ftp archive may be the best place to start for Perl programming,
The Copyright FAQ for Copyright issues, a directory is the best place to
start for women's studies and the (government) HUD user website for
Housing research. Sometimes it takes a very long time to locate the
specific area, but it is usually recognizable once you locate the
primary sources.
# Internet Search Engines
# Internet Forums
# FAQs and Newsgroups
# Internet Directories
# Australian Entry Points (national, state & government)
http://cn.net.au/vectors/websites.html
There are also new structures emerging
# webrings,
# topic-specific search engines
__ 5.5 newsprint
Newsprint is accessible through electronic databases. In addition, most
State libraries have a substantial catalogue of past newspapers.
Newsprint tends to be superficial and reasonably biassed, but current
newspapers are very current.
# Media Monitoring
There are firms which specialize in scanning a whole host of newspapers
for reference to certain names, topics or businesses. Any new article of
interest is copied and posted/faxed to your attention.
# Newspaper Archives
Newspapers are kept in libraries. Each major newspaper also maintains a
private library of their past documents.
# Copyright Permission
Most newspapers are party to the Copyright Convention, which allows you
to easily purchase additional copies, most often for less than 10 cents
per page.
__ 5.6 statistics
Statistics allow us to lie with confidence. They are dense, factual and
often more reliable than personal experience. Of course in research, we
are talking about four separate categories of statistics: national
statistical organizations, Association Statistics, Government Agency
Statistics and Commercial Statistics.
After much consideration, I think this will be real hard to express in
an FAQ, so I have a list & database of these at
http://cn.net.au/vectors/stats.html and http://cn.net.au
I'll try to include lists of statistics here and keep specific
statistics for an area I can arrange better.
# Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
http://www.abs.gov.au/
# 1997 Catalogue of Publications and Products & Subject Guide
Australian Bureau of Statistics
http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3110121.NSF/ ->
-> d29f0d90066771024a25644f001d0c5b?OpenView
# US Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/
Country Profiles
We recently completed an article listing 15+ country resources, and have
linked this to a map - so if you are interested in this type of
information, do visit the website. This list includes references to: 1)
World Bank's Competitive Indicators, 2) Pan American Health
Organization's Country Health Profiles, 3) (UK) Foreign Counsular
Office's Travel Advice, 4) US Department of State's Background Notes,
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (1996), Country Reports on
Economic Policy and Trade Practices (1996) & (1995), 5) US Library of
Congress's Country Studies, 6) US Department of State's Travel Warnings,
7) The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s Country Factbook, and
Chiefs of State file, 8) Canadian Forces College, Department of National
Defence's War Peace and Security Guide, 9) United Nations General
Assembly's Agenda 21 Report, 10) Shoreland's Travel Health Online's
Country Summary Profiles, 11) The Amnesty International Report 1997, 12)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees's Country Comments, and
13) The (Canadian) Deparment of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(DFAIT)'s Travel Information & Advisory Reports. There is also a link to
the PACIFIC exchange rate website.
Commercial Country Profile information also abounds. As this does not
translate well to flat text, so visit
http://cn.net.au/articles/country.html for more information.
__ 5.7 patents
patent databases
# The US Patents Fulltext
# European Patents Fulltext
# INPADOC
# an assortment of additional databases include patent details
Internet patent resources
# There is a project to bring US patents to the Internet. Last time I
looked it was just titles, but aiming for full text.
Further resources
# Australian Patent Offices
Card catalogue system at each capital city.
# Patent Attorneys
__ 5.8 theses
Theses and dissertations are professional papers completed for higher
degrees. They are long, dense and often very esoteric and convoluted.
Trouble is, most theses and dissertations have no more than 12 copies
ever - one always to the University Library, another with the author,
and others scatter to the wind.
# Dissertation Abstracts Online (by UMI)
# Australian Theses (a list was maintained from 1966 to 1991)
# AEI Australian Education Index (Australian education theses abstracts)
# British theses (???)
# Dissertations and Theses of the ROC (Taiwan)
# THESA (France)
# Many larger topic-specific databases also include some theses.
# See also University Library card catalogues
__ 5.9 further research sources
As I mentioned earlier, I do not like most Market Research, but I have
heard tales of using the wear on rail lines as a measure of their
business. There are many vectors, just the above have been more
effective. In the near future we will have e-books emerging as a new
resource: electronic books you must pay for which may or may not lack
editorial and quality control.
You will most likely locate further resources by asking advice of
experts and secondary sources.
___________________________________________________
6. Research Worthy Resources: Venues
Despite, and perhaps because, the information about the information
sphere is so very disorganized, a wide range of information venues have
developed to assist users to access the range of information which
exist. Each venue has particular features, and specializes on certain
vectors, certain topics. This section includes libraries, research
databases, secondary experience, government, faqs, associations,
periodicals, Internet search engines, Internet discussion groups and
further meta-resources.
__ 6.1 libraries
# The (US) Library of Congress (LOCIS) is available in two formats: The
Official site is http://lcweb.loc.gov/catalog/, but don't go there, the
Library of Congress Experimental Search System is less busy and more
effective.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/resdev/ess/
# Australian National Library Card Catalogue
Telnet to Search the Online Public Access Catalogue
(OPAC)
# Directory of Special Libraries in Australia by ALIA, listing of 1400+
special libraries in Australia.
# Australian Libraries
http://cn.net.au/venues/library.html
# US Libraries - thanks to Library of Congress.
http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/gateway.html
__ 6.2 research databases
# The Gale Directory of Databases (bi-annual in two volumes)
# The database directory of the Australian Database Development
Association (ADDA)
# Directories for the large Commercial Database Marketters:
Dialog, Ausinet, BRS, Westlaw, Mead, ...
# The Commercial Database List, a distributed database of commercial
database descriptions.
http://cn.net.au/tools/
Free Databases also available through commercial sources
# ERIC - Education Resources
http://www.aspensys.com/eric/
# Australian Government Index of Publications (AGIP 1992+)
http://www.agps.gov.au/products/agip.htm
# Monthly Catalog of US Government Publications(MOCAT 1994+)
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/adpos400.html
# The (US) Library of Congress (LOCIS) is available in two formats: The
Official site is http://lcweb.loc.gov/catalog/, but don't go there, the
Library of Congress Experimental Search System is less busy and more
effective.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/resdev/ess/
# US database of Corporate Information (EDGAR) thanks to US Securities
and Exchange Commission
http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/srch-edgar
__ 6.3 secondary experience
Sometimes you must go to people who have only experience with the people
in the field, rather than people with first-hand experience. I am
thinking of reporters, business experts and advisors. This is fine if
you intend to follow some of the leads suggested, but somehow
unprofessional if used as a resource itself.
# Associations Experts
# Accademic Experts
# Journalists
# Government Advisors
__ 6.4 government
# Government Publication Databases exist for these countries:
Australian Government Index of Publications (1992+)
http://www.agps.gov.au/products/agip.htm
Monthly Catalog of US Government Publications(MOCAT-1994+)
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/adpos400.html
# Australian Government Entry Points, Federal and State Entry Points and
Agency Lists,
http://cn.net.au/venues/gov.html
# Fedworld - US Government Entry Points
http://www.fedworld.gov/
# Yahoo has an extensive listing of government & agency entry points
http://www.yahoo.com
# GovBot - thanks to the US Business Advisor
http://www.busines.gov/Search_Online.html
# Another GovBot was unfortunately not working, but I like the idea so
much that here is the address anyway.
http://www.nwbuildnet.com/nwbn/govbot.html
I will be working more on this area shortly. Look first to the Community
Networking site: cn.net.au
United Nations
# United Nations Website http://www.un.org/
# The Yearbook of the United Nations (annual) summarizes all the UN's
activities that year.
# United Nations Chronicle (quarterly of 80+pages) covers current
activities by the UN
# The Latest Breaking News is published to their Web Site
http://www.un.org/News/
# UN Blue Book Series is a new set of very detailed summaries on topical
issues: Somolia, apartheid, nuclear-non-proliferation...
# In Australia, each State Library holds an archive of United Nations
Documents. I believe this is common abroad.
# For more detail, search UNDOC - Current Index - subject guide, the
quarterly tomb which provides a non-cumulative index to UN
publications. The print version was discontinued after Sept 1996, in
favour of the microfiche version.
# I have further information at http://cn.net.au/venues/gov.html
__ 6.5 faqs
# FAQs and Newsgroup database (Community Networking)
http://cn.net.au/venues/faqs.html
# Another Newsgroup database Thanks to Liszt.
http://www.liszt.com/news/
# List of Periodic Informational Postings, thanks to the *.answers
moderators
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/ ->
-> faq/usenet/periodic-postings/
http://www.ii.com/internet/faqs/writing/
news://news.answers
# In Australia, FAQs rest at Telstra's Plaza.Aarnet site
ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au/usenet/FAQs/
# A [partial] list of FAQ archives exist in news-answers/introduction
ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au/usenet/FAQs/news.answers/ ->
-> news-answers/introduction
I would love to know a definitive listing of FAQ archives.
Related Information
# The Argus Clearing-house - Clearing-house of Subject-oriented
Directories.
http://www.clearinghouse.net/
# Searching Current Network News with Dejanews or Altavista
http://www.dejanews.com/
http://www.altavista.digital.com
__ 6.6 associations
Associations often interpret their purpose as a place to pool and
distribute information. Larger associations often maintain a specialized
library, collect statistics, publish and have experts on their staff.
# Directory of Australian Associations - the definitive source for
addressing and contact numbers.
# US Directory of Association
# The ASCOT database also includes details on the management of
Australian associations.
# a Directory of Non-profit Organizations on the Internet exists, I
believe.
__ 6.7 periodicals
Magazines and Journals provide a valuable service in quality control and
editorial input. There are three difficulties though. Rarely do we want
to sit down with all past issues and browse, so we start with "What
article?" Secondly, many articles you locate may be impractical to
access. Lastly, we have Copyright Permission.
# Electronic Zines, archived on the Internet, can be found from John
Labovitz's E-Zine-List arranged under 80 different subjects.
http://www.meer.net/~johnl/e-zine-list/
Lists of Periodicals
# Subject Access to Australian Journals - by National Library of
Australia (still limited)
http://www.nla.gov.au/oz/ausejour.html
# Ulrich's International Directory of Periodicals
Locating Periodicals
# Online Card Catalogues to Major Libraries (see libraries - section
6.1)
# Full text from electronic sources.
# Specialist libraries
__ 6.8 Internet search engines
In the grand challenge to create the most efficient and effective way to
organize Internet resources, the search engines are slowly falling far
behind. There was a time, early in 1996, when these resources were
brilliant. But business pages began to float to the top, the blunt
search technologies fail to keep pace with the volume of information and
the dross of the Internet is slowly filling up these beautiful
creations.
# AltaVista http://altavista.digital.com
# WebCrawler http://webcrawler.com
# Lycos http://www.lycos.com
# HotBot http://www.hotbot.com/
# Excite http://www.excite.com/
# MetaCrawler http://www.metacrawler.com
Australian Web Resources
# Aussie.com.au (also allows search for names only)
http://aussie.com.au
# More Australian Search Engines (Thanks to Vicnet)
http://www.vicnet.net.au/vicnet/searchall.htm#australia
# Australian State Search Engines (Community Networking)
http://cn.net.au/vectors/ise.html
Related Resources:
# Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com
# The Argus Clearing-house, A collection of guides to the Internet.
http://www.clearinghouse.net/
__ 6.9 Internet discussion groups
There are three important research applications for mailing lists:
search through past discussion, directly ask members for assistance, and
become a participative member to pick up information. The best forums
are private. The list manager decides if you are allowed in and more
control and effort is expended in developing interesting content and
discussion. If you a closed and private forum, persevere.
# Liszt - The definitive but incomplete record of Internet lists
including a subject index.
http://www.liszt.com/
# Ozlists - A definitive but incomplete listing of Australian lists in a
subject index
http://www.gu.edu.au/gint/ozlists/ozlists_home.html
# Inter-Links
http://www.nova.edu/Inter-Links/cgi-bin/lists
# The Argus Clearing-house, a collection of guides to the Internet.
http://www.clearinghouse.net/
# The Tile.Net/Lists has both a searchable and a directory style index
http://www.tile.net/tile/listserv/
Interrogating List Software
There are many different mailing list software including listserv,
majordomo, listproc, mailbase, and more. Each program has its own
interrogation commands. Almost all automatically archive messages and a
few even allow for remote searching of message archives.
Mailing List instructions
# Community Networking
http://cn.net.au/venues/forums.html
# more detail at Saint Louis University Law Library, thanks to James
Milles.
http://lawlib.slu.edu/training/mailser.htm
Particularly Mailing Lists:
# Business Librarians List Buslib-l
# Government Documents List Govdoc
# Australian Government Documents List
# Journet-l (prominent Journalist list from Canada)
List Support Details
# Proper Newsgroup Etiquette
ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au/usenet/FAQs/news.announce.newusers/
# Information on how to build successful mailing lists
http://cn.net.au/cn/index.html
__ 6.10 further meta-resources
# Standard Directories from telephone directories to staff and
government directories
# Specialist Directories from Lloyds Shipping Register, Radio Airtime
Sales and an (Australian) National Directory of Multicultural Research
# The Directory of Australian Directories
# Internet Chat-groups
___________________________________________________
7. Specialty Research Resources
I am a little disadvantaged here, but I have listed either some of the
specific tools I know of, or meta-resources which may help you find
further information on field-specific research resources.
__ 7.1 legal research
# FAQ : Law-Related_Resources_on_the_Internet_and_Elsewhere
ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au/usenet/FAQs/news.answers/law/
# The Legal Research FAQ
ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au/usenet/FAQs/news.answers/law/
# Copyright_Myths_FAQ
ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au/usenet/FAQs/news.answers/law/copyright/
# Copyright FAQ
ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au/usenet/FAQs/news.answers/law/copyright/faq/
__ 7.2 computer field research
Unlike most every other field, a primary resource for quality
information about computers is the Internet.
# Archie - a database of ftp addresses to files found in ftp archives.
http://archie.au/archie-adv.html - New Advanced Query
http://archie.au/archie.html - New Simple Query
email to archie@plaza.aarnet.edu.au
# ShareWare.com
http://shareware.com
# Association of Shareware Professionals
http://www.asp-shareware.org/
# Directory of Shareware by the Association of Shareware Professionals
ftp://ftp.tas.gov.au/pc/simtelnet/msdos/info
Look for the directory: asp804.zip 500Kb+ in size
# RFC and FYI Archive
ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au/rfc/
but see the index first
ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au/rfc/fyi-index.txt and
ftp://plaza.aarnet.edu.au/rfc/rfc-index.txt
__ 7.3 researching research
If you are seeking evidence of existing research, you may also wish to
consider these resources. Please help if you know more.
Australian Research
# CSIRO Research Programs and Projects
http://www.csiro.au/csiro/csirores.htm
# Directory of Western Australia Research and Development
http://www.wa.gov.au/commerce/research.html
# Australian Rural Research in Progress
Commercial Database by CSIRO, Australia
# CSIRO Index
Citations to publications from CSIRO-sponsored projects
# Australian Education Index
ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research)
# Australian Energy Research in Progress database
# University Research Directories
International resources
# CORDIS - Database of European Research Developments by the EC
http://www.cordis.lu/
# SPIN - Database of Research Funding Resources
http://spin.web.unsw.edu.au/
# US Federally-Funded Research
http://medoc.gdb.org/best/fed-fund.html
# CRIS - Current Research Information System (US, Canada and Czech)
http://cristel.nal.usda.gov:8080/
# ERIC - Educational Resources
http://www.aspensys.com/eric/
# The Research Centers and Services Directory
# National Databases of Research also exist for Japan (JICST) and
Germany.
# See also Gale Directory of Databases (Section 6.2)
# See Theses and Dissertations (Section 5.8)
# See patents (Section 5.7)
__ 7.4 researching as a student
Perhaps the students among us will be grateful for these resources.
# Computerized Thesis Writing Guides
http://www.yahoo.com/business_and_economy/ ->
-> Companies/Computers/Software/Writing/
# Referencing Guide - thanks to Edith Cowan University (Australia)
http://www.cowan.edu.au/ecuwis/docs/admin/refguide/refguide.html
# Summary Notes of Writing for Social Scientists
[How to Start and Finish your Thesis, Book, or Article.]
http://www.pitt.edu/~malhotra/writing.htm
___________________________________________________
8. More on the Internet as a research resource
Lets agree the Internet is a great resource for surfing, but less
valuable when you have a certain question to answer. To find answers, we
need to begin by understanding how the information is arranged on the
Internet. Contrary to myth, information is not disorganized but rather
organized very carefully along clear patterns. Each pattern is differs
between the various forms of information. Further, awareness of
information moves through several systems. Your understanding of the
strengths and weaknesses of each pattern, each format, each system, will
guide your search for information. I will share two insights here then
invite you to the website for more.
Insight One: Information tends to clump on the Internet, as with most
resources, either by design or by simple habit. The web is not the only
source of information and often not the resource where the best
information groups. If you routinely browse different Internet systems,
you will find certain information is found primarily in certain systems.
While much information is drifting to the web, this trend is far from
complete. The dominant source of information can usually be explained
historically, as websites, ftp-archives, online databases, software,
telnet-databases, newsgroups, mailing lists, etc...
Insight Two: Information moves from the producers of information to the
people who are seeking such information, and the way the information
moves defines the resource. This is far more general, and applicable to
any information source. Let us use books as an example.
Books are created by authors who have something to write. Books are
printed and marketed by Publishers to the bookstores who then provide it
on to the readers. Each facet of this process defines the resource.
Books have quality, editorial vetting, sales value and a potentially
lengthy preparation time.
Now lets look at FAQs. The best resource in the world on copyright law
is the musings of a group of copyright lawyers who form the copyright
mailing list. The copyright FAQ supported by this group is a logical
document which summarizes much of the discussion of this mailing list.
FAQs are vetted by the news.answers team, automatically mirrored around
the world, and read by millions. From its origins, the FAQ is a
peer-reviewed document, often full of links to further resources,
topical, knowledgeable, factual and few in number.
Again, the way the information is generated, organized and transmitted
deeply affects the information. Your understanding of the relative
qualities of information affects both the search process and your
analysis of its value. This framework is very valuable when interacting
with the Internet and cuts through much of the chaos which is the
Internet. As I mentioned, please visit http://cn.net.au for further
insights of this kind.
___________________________________________________
9. More on the Commercial Information Sphere
The commercial information sphere existed in the 1970's and earlier. It
is far more developed, far better organized, far better funded, almost
always far more valuable and expensive than most every other research
resource.
Commercial information is arranged reasonably uniformly in large
databases of full-text or bibliographic information. Some databases are
small, single source documents, while others are huge unfoccussed
collections of resources.
Most directories and journals can be made into a database, but
single-source databases do not enjoy much financial success, (except in
a local market as in newspapers). To overcome this difficulty, single
sources are grouped together into larger collections of databases on a
particular topic. These larger database groups become the primary tool
for commercial research.
Developing these databases requires the assistance and expertise of a
range of skills. Sometimes this requires abstracting, interpreting, and
as with some Lexis-Nexis databases, expert legal interpretation. Often
this is accomplished by large database developers with a range of
databases in their portfolio.
The marketting and consumer billing of such databases is then provided
by a relatively small collection of very large database marketers. As an
indication of the size of this market, Knight-Ridder is rumoured to be
selling their Dialog & Datastar for a figure approaching half a billion
dollars!
Thus, we have an industry consisting of a wide collection of players,
each improving and developing the information from individual
periodicals, journals, news items, etc... All very confusing for the end
user, of course.
This is elegantly illustrated by the database descriptions for
Lexis-Nexis databases (They prefer the term libraries. See
http://www.lexis-nexis.com/lncc/sources/libcont/aust.html as an
example).
Luckily, there are actually very few large databases in existence.
Sadly, many single sources exist in different commercial databases. The
combinations are not endless, but they most certainly are difficult to
understand. Further, different databases sometimes include different
information from the same single-source. One database may include just
abstracts, another may have fulltext, chemical indexing and more.
Most researchers are unfamiliar with what exactly is being searched.
This gives rise to great customer loyalty to database marketters,
brought on by ignorance and obsfucation. I am even hard pressed to
compare prices between access points. Community Networking's first stab
at improving this is at http://cn.net.au
This system has distributed information for several decades. It is both
sophisticated and quite difficult. You will need to become experienced
with inverted indexes, search techniques (Boolean, truncation,
proximity, field limits ...), and properly phrasing the question in a
way which will be answered by a database search.
Unfortunately, if you are incompletely skilled at research, you will
take longer, pay more and locate far more information or unwisely
discard more than necessary.
These are very different from searching Altavista and Webcrawler.
Doing your own research offers an opportunity to more closely influence
the research process. Sometimes only you understand the topic and
sometimes you can more quickly discard unimportant details. Certainly it
is becoming simpler to undertake some of this work.
Many of the commercial databases are also available in a CD format.
There are substantial subscription costs which limit their availability
to large research institutions and libraries, though individual
databases can be found in bookstores (I believe world books in print
costs AU$5000+). Provided you can find casual access, it will cost you
far less. Keep an eye on the age, though. Sometimes online information
is more recent.
The decision between undertaking research on your own or seeking
external help is really a decision based on your research expertise,
your budget, your access to information, your time, and the importance
of finding all the information available. It also depends on your access
to some decent research assistance. That is your decision.
What I do know, is that a newcomer to the commercial information sphere
will seriously underestimate the difficulty involved in searching, and
underestimate both the cost of research and the cost of research
assistance. Keep in mind this same system serves the needs of large
commercial conglomerates, professional legal research, and well financed
government studies. The commercial information sphere contains far more
valuable information than the you need. Often the Internet is just an
interesting sneeze in comparison.
# Article: The Gale Directory of Databases (bi-annual in two volumes)
includes a factual article as a forward, which follows the development
of this industry.
# Full text databases - by Carol Tenopir and Jung Soon Ro
Soon at http://cn.net.au/training/tenopir.html
___________________________________________________
10. More on the Information Service Industry
Private Detectives, Professional Database Researchers, Library
Researchers, Legal Researchers, Commercial Database Producers,
Commercial Database Marketers, Magazines, News Organizations, Libraries,
this is a big industry. Professional Research is just a process which
links together those seeking information with those who provide it.
__ 10.1 judging information value
Information has value. It also has other qualities which will assist you
to judge the value of information you may consider buying.
Accuracy: the factual nature of the information presented. If the
statistics purport to show a particular trend - how large is the margin
of error? How large is the sample size? How likely are there to have
been factual errors in their development? The measurement of statistical
error is now a refined science in some fields. A statistical result can
be inaccurate when the sample size is too small, if the margin of error
is too large, the sample collection procedure incorrect, or a number of
other situations.
Reliability: the support for trusting the solutions, both from
additional resources and from being able to duplicate the conclusions.
This includes the reputation of the researchers. No matter how
inaccurate and biased you may believe certain facts to be, successful
independent support of a suggested fact does improve its value. If facts
can not be duplicated, like cold fussion, they are of less value.
Bias: conscious or subconscious influences which affect information.
Bias can occur in collection, preparation and presentation of
information. Most information you find will be tainted. Secondary
information is deeply affected. Statistics are not necessarily less
biased.
We counter bias in several ways. Firstly, we try to be aware of bias.
Where is bias likely? Which direction would the bias affect the
information. Secondly, we try to collect information which has different
bias. This is why research based solely on government research, no
matter how accurate and reliable, is less valueable. Often information
from different countries can counter bias. Thirdly, we need to accept
bias is likely to exist. This is why primary sources are often more
valuable than secondary sources. This is why tertiary sources, like
experts, are very likely to be biased.
Age: The date information was created or compiled will feature
prominently in the value of information. Dates given sometimes mean the
date information was created, or the date information was compiled. How
old is a book compiled in 1995, which took the author 10 years to
finish? I find statistics often forecast information, prominently
displaying recent compilation dates but still often use old census data
or the like. Worse still, information on the Internet typically has no
date.
Purpose: purpose merits further discussion. When you are uncertain about
potential bias, you can look for reasons to distrust the information
instead. Suspicion is not equivalent to bias, but it can be thought
provoking. Privately, I have heard repeated rumours that important
national statistics have been fudged in different countries. A
government research report investigating the price of books in Australia
would have a political purpose, a purpose which provides the climate for
some potentially significant bias. A tell-all book by industry experts
often include a tremendous quality of insider experience difficult to
find elsewhere. While there may be a purpose of self-agrandizement, the
purpose is less a climate for significant bias. Medical research has
perhaps the greatest climate for significant bias, and this suggests the
greatest standard of proof and external, reliable support.
This explanation of accuracy, reliability, bias, age and purpose is very
important in research. This is what leads us to an appraisal of value.
For years, the tobacco industry funded 'independent' research finding
smoking minimally harmful to health. It is now likely there may have
been errors brought on by accuracy, and bias. Certain purpose was in
doubt. As other studies showed smoking in harmful, we can also say this
research lacked certain facets of reliability. Research about the future
of the Internet is perpetually suspect because it also ages so very
quickly.
Once you are aclimatized to these elements, you begin to see potential
for error in a whole range of information. Real-Estate association
figures, expert opinions, Toothpaste advertisements and National GDP
figures all occassionally display some degree of warping and
manipulation, clouding the truth. The solution is awareness, comparison
and careful analysis. As a personal aside, this is part of the reason
for my personal dislike for market research: it is often taken far more
seriously than warranted and mean far less than is suggested.
__ 10.2 buying information assistance
If you decide external help is advisable, what next? Sadly, this is not
an easy question to answer. I will attempt this in a later version of
this FAQ
___________________________________________________
11. Emerging Trends in the information sphere
I will outline three emerging trends whose impact is not fully
understood. Firstly, for the past few years, individual database
owners/maintainers have been flirting with the idea of making paid
access available through the Internet, rather than the existing system
of allowing database marketing firms to promote and market their
databases. This is not commercially viable yet... but some have emerged
with alternative funding despite this (Library of Congress, ERIC, see
section 6.2). Others are creeping in around the edges by offering
subscribers access at a much reduced flat annual fee (Computer Select at
one time). I expect to see much more of this once a meaningful way to
charge by the page emerges - which despite the hype appears to be some
time away.
A second trend is Internet publishing itself. Gradually, the information
is getting easier to locate (don't laugh please - its undignified). We
are also getting better at using the Internet as a tool to disseminate
information. Emerging from these efforts are the very visible, if
perhaps short-lived, search engines, but also other efforts like
archives of FAQs, archives of guidebooks, applying the dewey decimal
system to the Internet, specialist directories, specialist search
engines and more ensure this will be a lively field for several years to
come. As it gets easier to locate the good information, perhaps the
lines between commercial quality and Internet quality will begin to
merge. I have seen some promising plans for raising the quality of
Internet information.
Thirdly, there is this very interesting prospect of paying for
information by the page through the Internet - and viewing the results
in a web page immediately. There are many technical hurdles yet, but
certain elements are already appearing, including ventures like
DialogWeb, but much more is in the future. This step may prove
profitable for ATM vendors and owners of Internet cafes, pubs and
kiosks. It may also herald a dramatic drop in the cost of information.
___________________________________________________
12. Education and Training in Professional Research
Practice, Guidance and Facts are required to become better at research.
None of these is particularly hard to get, just the time and effort to
get better, for just like an artist, professional research is a lifetime
study made more complicated by a moving target.
__ 12.1 Facts
Facts on professional research are relatively easy to find. Making some
coherent sense of them takes practice. You will want to learn of each
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