Do you want to improve your research skills? Archives

Do you want to improve your research skills?

A recent survey found:

A commanding 95 percent of professionals find Internet search engines an aid for conducting work, yet only 40 percent say they are very satisfied with the results
Less than 25 percent of professionals are very confident that when using popular Internet search engines they’ve looked everywhere to find answers
Businesses pay employees to hunt for information that can’t be found and make decisions without all the facts.
More than 60 percent disclosed they do not ask for help when lost, while 80 percent said they have never been trained to use the advanced search feature.

Consumer Search Engines Leave Professionals at a Loss, says Convera® Survey, December 19, 2006

"First, I'd learn how to be a researcher and guide. The sheer amount of Web-based information is a double-edged sword. All this great stuff is wonderful in theory, but wading through page after page of search results is tiresome."
. . .
"Some journalism teachers -- myself included -- tend to overestimate the Web skills of the current generation. We mistake technological comfort with research expertise. However, there's little transferable skill between a well-managed MySpace profile and online research."

"Online Journalism Skills I Wish I'd Learned in School, Part 1," by Mac Slocum, E-Media Tidbits, Poynter Online, April 11, 2007

If you want to become a more effective and efficient researcher, saving your organization time and money, take our course, "Research Skills for the Real World: Going Beyond Google."

Course materials include Peggy Garvin's "Real World Research Skills: An Introduction to Factual, International, Judicial, Legislative, and Regulatory Research."