Synopses & Reviews
Offering business information users strategies for identifying and evaluating no-cost online information sources, this guide emphasizes techniques for recognizing biased and untrustworthy web sites. Information users are directed to the most useful and targeted sources of company histories and overviews. These include corporate sales and earnings data, SEC filings and stockholder reports, public records, market research studies, competitive intelligence, industry analyses, staff directories, executive biographies, statistics, survey/poll results, conference proceedings, press releases, news stories, and hard-to-find information about small businesses and niche markets. Demonstrated are concepts such as precision searching, which enables business searchers to quickly find the specific information they need. Also discussed are critical-thinking skills and the art of asking the right question. A 10-point checklist that allows users to systematically evaluate web site reliability is included.
Review
“Promotes a healthy skepticism of Web-based information and provides a systematic way to evaluate company and industry data. Youll learn how to easily spot red flags and hidden agendas and go beyond ‘official sites for quality business information.” —Sheri R. Lanza, editor, The CyberSkeptics Guide to Internet Research
Synopsis
How to spot biased web sites, avoid misinformation, and evaluate company and industry data sources
About the Author
Robert Berkman teaches courses on research methods and media ethics at the New School University. He is a frequent speaker at workshops and conferences, including the European Journalism Centre, Maastricht, Netherlands, and Web Search University. He is the past director of secondary research for The Winters Group, a market research firm, and has been the editor of such journals as
The Information Advisor and
What to Buy for Business. He is the author of
Find It Fast: How to Find Information on Any Subject,
The Art of Being Well Informed,
Find It Online,
Finding Business Research on the Web, and
Finding Market Research on the Web. He lives in Falmouth, Massachusetts.