Real World Research Skills, Second Edition

Overview

Even in the 18th century, scholars realized it was not possible to know everything worth knowing; sometimes, we have to look it up. Fortunately for Dr. Johnson, he did not have to be familiar with so many sources and so many different techniques for finding information. He did, however, recognize the value of knowing where to find information. What today's Internet-enabled workers have discovered is that we also need to know how to search and how to evaluate what we find.

Real World Research Skills, Second Edition, 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 awide 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.

Each chapter has a chapter summary and review questions, making it easy to use in the classroom.

Summary Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Before You Start Your Research
- Chapter 2 Going Beyond Google
- Chapter 3 Legislative Branch Research
- Chapter 4 Judicial Branch Research
- Chapter 5 Executive Branch Research
- Chapter 6 State and International Research
- Chapter 7 Experts and Insiders
- Table of Web Sites
- Index

For a complete Table of Contents, see RealWorldResearchSkills.com