GETTING THE ANSWERS YOU NEED!
We have all faced the same frustrating situation… up against a deadline, meeting or request from senior management, we’re trying to find key information or statistics that supports our case or project requirements. But we can’t seem to find exactly what we need. Or worse yet, we can’t find anything even close to what we want.
Ahhh… but we thought it was all there to be had… all right there on this marvelous virtual world of the Internet. The greatest repository of information in the universe, or so we thought! The answer is of course, is that it’s not all on the “Net”. Or parts of it may be, but they’re hidden from view or inaccessible to our best searching techniques.
Part of the issue is that today’s search engines just aren’t adequate or capable of “tunneling their way” throughout the entire Internet and inside all it’s nooks and crannies. The engines themselves weren’t designed for what we’re asking them to do…although several are trying to upgrade and do a better job for us.
Also, none of the search engines are capable of searching everything on the Web. Even the best ones are capable of get at 15% to 40% of the information on the Internet. So, it’s fundamental for any good searcher to recognize that they will need to utilize multiple search engines.
The reason for needing to use multiple search engines is that while there is some overlap, there’s never complete consistency among the various search engines; each one has it’s own methodology. Sometimes it requires searching in 3 to 10 different engines to get even a semblance of what you’re seeking.
But there’s another factor, many of the websites don’t want you to have access to all their data. Much of it is hidden behind access codes or client passwords. Still other websites require payment for the “really good stuff’ we’re trying to find. Some Web experts have estimated that as much as 50% or more, of the potential information on the Internet is “behind closed doors”.
And still another aspect is that a lot of information just isn’t on the Web. In fact, we estimate that less than 10% of the entire universe of information is available on the Internet. Much of it will never make it there either, for a variety of reasons… much of it having to do with the value and cost relationship of the data.
Increasingly, holders of information are realizing its inherent value. They know it has an intrinsic intellectual or commercial value to someone… so why give it away for free? In fact, in recent years, there has been a trend, sites that once did have free information, now charge for some, or all of it. When it was free, it was like the lady “sampling new food items in your grocery store”… you get a little taste, and they hope you’ll be back for more, and of course, pay full price!
For example, several of the large newspapers around the country have used this approach. At one time you could search their whole database for information. Now however, you can only get their current or past week’s editions. In order to gain access to their archives, the meter starts running.
Other large information aggregators, that were formally available mostly to corporate business librarians, have now gone online as well. However, their product may not be the same as their former offline offerings. In comparisons we’ve done on some of these major information providers, it’s amazing how much key data just isn’t there on the Net versions... it’s a watered-down version. Some of it has to do with the cost aspect; they realize the average Net user isn’t going to pay the price that corporate clients have been spending for years now. So in order to make their business model work on the Web, where users have a strong “it should be free” mentality, they offer a lesser product. Now, that’s not good for the searcher who desperately needs the best available.
And then there’s the issue of time. How much is your time worth to spend hours and hours searching? And if you do find a few things… how do you know if you’ve got it all… or if it’s really the best results… or worse yet, if it’s trustworthy and accurate information?
This is the point where it might make sense to begin asking a few questions like: “How important is this information to the project I’m working on?” “What would happen if I provided management with inaccurate or incomplete data?” “If the assignment I’m working on requires significant investment by my company, do I want to risk not having the best and most complete information that’s available out there… somewhere?”
When one evaluates all these issues and weighs the implications and answers associated with them, it soon becomes apparent to the prudent searcher, that the best solution may be one of compromise. Start by committing to yourself that you’ll only spend “X” amount of your valuable time searching, and after that point, you’ll engage the services of an information search expert.
Determine the importance of the information, and how critical it is to making key decisions for the assignment at hand. Then seek-out the services of someone, well, like Just the Facts, (you’re not surprised to hear our suggestion are you!?). A research firm that has access to many thousands of sources of information… much of it not found on the Web!
