The Role of Tutorials
How do you quickly gather information you need on a topic that you know nothing about?
When you have to "come up to speed" on a topic, you look for "background" information. Doing this task, often under time constraints, is not as easy as one expects it to be. The ideal would be a one-page tutorial which assumes no previous knowledge, and provides the most usable "basics". Such a tutorial requires a process of:
- identifying key data from frequently asked questions,
- succinctly answering these from authoritative sources, and
- providing a paper trail to accommodate the further pursuit of relevant information.
I offer as an example a tutorial on the LIBOR Rate, which I created in 1994 at a time when some home mortgage rates in the U.S. started to get pegged to the LIBOR. This tutorial lists key information and provides answers to key questions all on one page, such as:
(1) "What is it?" (definition),
(2) "How is it calculated?" (formula),
(3) "What is it good for?" (application),
(4) "Where is it listed?" (data sources), and
(5) "How to learn more about it" (reading list).
Effective tutorials address at least (1), (3), (5) of the above key questions.
"THE RIGHT ANSWERS ARE EASY, WITH THE RIGHT QUESTIONS."
- BUMBLE BEE WISE
Copyright © 1996 by Eloisa Gomez Borah. All Rights Reserved.
Research Strategies Lead The Way
A key success factor is having a plan. A research strategy provides a plan of action for efficient and effective information seeking. Keeping to a research strategy means spending less time in data gathering, and having more time for decision making and problem solving.
In the spring of 1998, the late Professor Richard A. Goodman met with a team of reference librarians. Together they drafted a research strategy for the student paper required in the course on Competitive Intelligence. The result was a textbook example of a research strategy (linked below), as it:
- points out the areas of information needs, in this case (Company, Industry, Environment),
- identifies the key questions that need answers, and
- links these information needs to the recommended sources for the information.
A research strategy can be drawn up for any information seeking agenda. The business examples on this page provide research strategies that work in both the academic setting and in the real world. This next example even crosses disciplines into politics and international relations.
The visual index, that appears at the top of each research strategy linked from this page, provides an additional visual cue.
As in the universal example for job-hunters, below. Visually Indexing Information was already a hot topic at the Internet Librarian 1998 Conference, so more examples are long overdue.
"DOING RESEARCH WITHOUT A STRATEGY IS LIKE GOING TO THE GROCERY WITHOUT A SHOPPING LIST;
YOU CAN'T PREDICT WHAT YOU'LL END UP WITH, AND YOU WILL MISS SOME THINGS."
- BUMBLE BEE WISE
Copyright © 1999 by Eloisa Gomez Borah. All Rights Reserved.
Mapping The Information Universe
Mapping knowledge or information is done in various ways. In this instance, business databases are used to illustrate how areas of information needs can be used to map the best options for the information seeker.
This first example shows the 1994 version, printed on paper as it was created before the World Wide Web was available, which rated how useful each business database was for each of seven of the most common business information needs -- Company-Financials, Company-Textual, Industry, Methods & Techniques, Economic Indicators, News & Recent Trends, and International.
Users could simply match their information need to the database ranking of "H", which stood for high utility. It was also possible to find a recommended database which served two or more types of information needs, by simply sliding more fingers down the relevant columns. Try this for: Industry + News + International. This use of the grid design was acknowledged as "digital" in its own fashion, because it used the digits on your hand.
This next example shows a screenshot of the 1998 version, which made a successful online transition to the Internet. The number of core types of business information needs increased to ten, with the addition of these three: Expert Opinion, Academic or Theoretical, and Demographics.
This final example shows a screenshot of the 2005 version (12/16/2005). This was the final grid design version published to a Web page. The constraints of a new CMS (Content Management System) mandated the retirement of this Web page which used the visual grid format, to be replaced by a dumbed down list.
"ONE THIRD OF LIFE IS WASTED
IN OVERCOMING EFFECTS OF A BAD FIRST STEP."
- BUMBLE BEE WISE
Copyright © 1999-2005 by Eloisa Gomez Borah. All Rights Reserved.