Weekly Workforce Development Skills: Finding Resources

Many decisions and solutions don’t require a lot of work. After all, you don’t need to gather much information to decide when to study for an exam or whether to bake a pie or a cake. You already know the facts, so you simply use them to make a wise decision. But what if you don’t know which facts to base a decision on? What if there are things you aren’t familiar with that really need to be considered? That’s where thinking critically comes into play. Your solutions and decisions are only as good as the information you use to make them. Sometimes you need only to deal with facts already known to you. In other instances, you may need to do some research. The three best resources to consult are the Internet, the library, and other people (experts). Knowing how and when to use each type of resource can mean the difference between making an uninformed decision and standing solidly behind the facts as you solve problems and decide among various options.

Internet Resources

Research on the Internet doesn’t have to be confusing, even though you can literally access billions of websites. You just need to know what you’re looking for and the best way to find it. There are three basic investigative methods. The first is to use a search engine, like www. google.com, www.ask.com, or www.bing.com, where you enter a topic or words that relate to the topic and are provided links to sites with information about that topic. But search engines don’t always distinguish between useful and not-so-useful sites. They simply list everything, sometimes thousands of links, that seem to meet your search criteria. Another way to search the Internet is by using subject directories. The great advantage of this method is that the sites the directories list have been chosen by qualified people. Websites deemed to be of poor quality are less likely to make the directory. Some directories even hire experts in various fields to write guides to their chosen subjects and also to provide links to related sites. Recommended subject directories include www.about.com, www.academicinfo.net, www.ipl.org, and  http://infomine.ucr.edu. The third way to find what you are looking for on the Internet is to search directly on a site at which you believe the information may be found. Some of those sites are Encyclopedia.com, Britannica.com, or Education.yahoo.com/reference.

The Library — Print Resources

Although it might sometimes seem otherwise, everything of interest that has ever been written is not on the Internet, nor can it be searched for on the Internet. There are still five important reasons to do research at the library.

1. Librarians. These trained professionals know how to find what you are looking for, whether in the stacks or online.
2. Non-searchable print. Millions of books and other print materials have not made it to the web. In addition, the human power to key in or scan every old, deteriorating text, such as back issues of journals, magazines, and newspapers, does not exist. But they may be found in libraries, either in print or on microfilm or microfiche.
3. Reliability of information. Not all information on the Internet is accurate. Anyone can “publish” online, and it is not always easy to distinguish between reliable and unreliable websites. Many sites containing bogus information appear professional and well-written. Published books and periodicals, on the other hand, have been through many layers of safety nets before they reach the shelves of a library. They are typically written, edited, proofread, fact-checked, published, and then selected by a librarian for purchase.
4. Finding anything that is not historical or current. The Internet is a great resource for information that is either very old or very new. For instance, you can find the Magna Carta and current state and federal statutes, but legal research on anything in the early to mid-20th century is difficult to nearly impossible to find on the Internet.
5. Price. The use of a library, including all of its electronic services, is free. Some of the research resources on the Internet are not. There are sites that give away some information but charge for full access to their site. Others will not let you in at all unless you are a subscriber. Some Internet resources charge prohibitively high subscription prices. Libraries often pay these prices and provide full access.

Sometimes, you can’t find out what you need to know from a website or the library. The information might be very timely, such as interest rates on mortgages that change daily, or it just might not be published (such as someone’s opinion on a given subject). In such a case, you need to find a person or people who have the information you are looking for. Experts are simply those who know their subjects and can be relied upon to supply the correct information. They might know about it because they have studied it or worked with it long enough to be considered highly informed. Getting information from an expert can be simple. You might just have to look up a number in the phone book and make a quick call. Or, it can involve a number of steps. You might need to do some research first to find your expert. That could mean asking around or using the resources of your library or the Internet. Once you have a name and contact information, you can proceed to gather information. The great benefit of finding an expert you can trust who has the facts you need is that he or she can save you time. Instead of hunting for information from sources that may or may not yield what you are looking for, you have a reliable source. A loan officer at your bank will know exactly what the current mortgage rate is and be able to explain the difference in cost, long-term, between a 15- and a 20-year mortgage. Related questions may be answered without consulting other websites or print resources.