Real World Research Skills, Second Edition

The 2nd Edition of Peggy Garvin’s Real World Research Skills was published today, July 30, 2009, and is now available at your local bookstore (special order), Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Real World Research Skills Second Edition: An Introduction to Factual, International, Judicial, Legislative, and Regulatory Research, by Peggy Garvin

This book compiles basic advice, techniques, reference information, and resources to help working professionals find accurate information quickly. It is written particularly for those whose work involves tapping into federal government information. The book began as a set of materials for TheCapitol.Net’s seminar, “Research Tools and Techniques: Refining Your Online and Offline Searches.” It is designed to be used as a complement to that seminar or independently as a desk reference.
The first and second chapters cover practical principles of research and online searching, including the general search engines. These sections include checklists and advice that are applicable to many different research tasks and many different databases and search engines.
The third, fourth, and fifth chapters present resources for federal legislative, judicial, and executive branch research.
The sixth chapter covers starting points for state and international research on the web.
The final chapter, “Experts and Insiders,” has tips for tapping into that vital Washington information resource: people.
In our knowledge economy, more and more people—with a wide range of education and experience—are moving into jobs that require some information-gathering skills. The research training provided at many schools lays a foundation, but often does not prepare us for the varied demands of the working world.
This book can help anyone involved in government research by increasing their information literacy, improving their research effectiveness and efficiency.

For a complete Table of Contents and secure online ordering, see the book’s web page