1. Go where it is
   
2. The answer depends on the question
   
3. Research is a multi-stage process
   
4. Ask a Librarian
   
5. Information is meaningless until queried by human intelligence

1. Tara Calishain
2. Jenny Levine, part I
3. Jenny Levine, Part II
4. Reva Basch
5. Sue Feldman

REVIEW: SUPER SEARCHERS DO BUSINESS

Mary Ellen Bates. Super Searchers Do Business: The Online Secrets of the Top Business Researchers. CyberAge Books, 1999

You'll be glad to know that this is the beginning of a series, edited by Reva Basch; the titles to come will include super searchers in law and medicine. Mary Ellen Bates asks exactly the questions we would like answers to, including: How do you keep current? How do you start your research on any given question? How do you know when you're finished? How has the internet changed what you do? What do you see as the future of the information profession?

First let me say that the eleven information professionals interviewed for this book are truly impressive, not just for their knowledge but for the ways their minds work. In point of fact, they don't regard themselves just as searchers; they are skilled at analyzing the questions, understanding the types of information called for, knowing where it can be found, knowing how to manipulate systems to retrieve it, and organizing and presenting it to their clients, all on a tight deadline.

This requires among other things an intimate understanding of the structure of information -- what resources contain what kinds of information. They have to know both the content of multiple databases and each one's individual searching quirks. It also requires that they keep up with the constant changes in databases. One of the great resources this book gives is a list of all the journals, listserves, and other updating sources these researchers routinely refer to. Not surprisingly, there are a few key sources that were cited repeatedly, including Searcher, Online, Cyberskeptic's Guide to Internet Research, and Database, as well as Danny Sullivan's Search Engine Watch, at http://www.searchenginewatch.com and Greg Notess's search engine reports, at http://www.notess.com/search. Not surprisingly, the listserve that was cited most frequently was Buslib-L.

Among the hints that turn up most frequently:

• The most important part of the search is the reference interview. You have to be absolutely clear at the beginning, before you've spent customer money, what results they need for what purpose.

• Do research in stages. Go to your most likely sources, get an idea what kind of information is out there, what new terminology and angles are raised by it, and get back to your client to clarify whether these new directions should be explored.

• The internet is too slow for skilled researchers who are used to database response times, and few of the search utilities are precise enough tools for advanced searching. For them, "free" isn't free if it costs them time. Many of these searchers use the internet defensively, because the client may have been exploring the net -- and it's always nice to have found more there than the client did.

• Professional researchers are curious, flexible, good at puzzles and thinking outside the box. They don't just find information, they add value to it.

  I highly recommend the book, and look forward to the publication of the next books in the series.
  
  

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  E-REFERENCE

  On NeatNew this week I refer you to Sara Weissman's web paper on E-Ref Characteristics http://www.gti.net/weissman/character.html, a study based on 3 years of information referral by bulletin board, one and a half years by chat, and a year and a half by web form submissions. She gives some extremely useful advice for those thinking of setting up such a service, such as deciding in advance what you are willing to supply electronically, how you are going to handle recurring questions such as school assignments (she suggests setting up an FAQ page as soon as you see a pattern and referring people to that page), where to position the service on your library's home page, etc.

  I e-mailed Sarah () and asked her if there was anything she'd like to add for my readers' benefit. This is her reply:

  "Just to re-iterate that people really do flounder in the information sea, to an extent librarians utterly fail to appreciate. Yesterday morning these questions by e-mail:

• when does my high school open its doors in Sept
  [I called Superintendent's office then e-maile info to patron..school is here in our county]

• do I get a card from my local library if I want to use other library's in the county?
  [why couldn't he/she just ask the local library??!@]

• my fiancee and are are getting married in a hotel in your county next month. What town is it in and how do we get a marriage license?
  [Sent them web page from the appropriate municipal Dept of Health page entitled?!! "How Apply for a Marriage License" So much for search engines.]

  Sometimes electronic reference is just a life preserver in a sea of information!"
  
  

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  WHAT ELSE MIGHT OUR TECHNOLOGIES DO FOR US?

  I think we've lived with our nifty new technologies long enough now to get past the "Oh, wow!" stage about what they do for us and go on to ask what ELSE they might do for us. Is anybody designing a technology, an interface, a software program, to help solve some of our other problems?

  One problem we could use some help with is actually caused by our technologies: many of us have built confusing collections of mutually exclusive databases, from different vendors, each with its own interface and searching system. Users often stare blankly at the icons and click randomly on one (no, they don't read the descriptions), and type their search statements in. Whether they get an answer or not depends on whether they've clicked an appropriate database and used the right search strategy to find it. So, would it be possible to design a single interface that would query ALL the databases, from all those different vendors, on a student's topic?

  Another issue the net has not dealt with well is payment. Because there is no system in place by which people could make micropayments for page use , web site providers have the choice of offering their products completely free, or charging enough to pay expenses at the risk driving away customers.

  I'm pretty sure most of us would be willing to pay a few cents for something we read regularly, but not, say, $20 or more. What we need is an internet equivalent of ASCAP or BMI, to construct user accounts, deduct payments from them, and forward them to site providers.

  I know the other thing you're all going to say is "serials control." Wouldn't it be nice to have a system that would centralize every bit of information we have about our periodicals: ISSN, frequency, cost, check-in status, location, binding information, claims, etc.? Wouldn't it be nice if we could use that database to generate holdings lists for our users, and generate claims notices for our subscription agencies? This, however, may not be a pie-in-the-sky daydream. It appears that ACSES may be capable of creating such a database; at least I know somebody who's made a flying start at using it for that purpose.

  What would be on your wish list? If it has anything to do with storing, retrieving or manipulating information we already have, let's assume it's capable of a technological solution. Instead of just waiting around and hoping a nice piece of software comes ambling down the pike someday, maybe we should tell vendors what we need to have done, and ask them to create a product for us.