Face it, not all information is free, even if it wants to be. True, your average net-surfing BIFF@big.state.edu can uncover gems on the Internet with tools like archie, veronica, and WAIS. But the good stuff is locked behind serious ice and forbidding fares on systems that strike fear into amateur info-brokers and seasoned librarians alike.
Secrets of the Super Searchers author Reva Basch and the 23 grizzled wizards interviewed in her book have been using systems like Dialog and Lexis/Nexis and the thousands of databases they carry – Medline, ABI/Inform, Investext, and Trade & Industry ASAP – since the days of 300- bit-per-second modems and thermal print teletypes. While Secrets doesn't address the nuts and bolts of using these systems, it is a tremendous resource for anyone interested in the online research and consulting industry. From strategies for effective searching (selecting appropriate databases, restricting or fanning out a search, choosing between full-text and abstract searches, and knowing when to stop) to the dynamics of consulting with and billing clients, it's all here.
Basch's interviews yield fascinating insights into the minds and methods of these information sleuths. "Super Search Secrets" at the end of each chapter highlight the essentials raised in each interview. Since the searchers themselves are sampled from diverse professions – from jack-of- all-trades generalists and public and university librarians to specialized professionals in the chemical, corporate, government, legal, medical, patent, pharmaceutical, social science, and technology trades – there's little left uncovered.
Take the profile of Linda Cooper, client-centered entrepreneur. This no- nonsense woman bares all: deft approaches to sifting clients into categories, subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways of extracting critical information about expectations and budgets during reference interviews, and going online with a battery of alarm clocks, timers, and strategies for multitasking, parking where it's cheap, and otherwise making the most of her (and her clients') time.
There's one charming chapter with Lee Sapienza, a pioneer in getting high school students to shine using online search and collaboration tools, another on the trails blazed by N. J. Thompson during her intellectual property searches in trademark and common-law databases. Jargon watchers: Heed the ant vs. grasshopper thread running through the book.
One of Basch's key themes is that online is not the One True Path to glistening nuggets of information. The 235 paper pages of Secrets of the Super Searchers nicely illustrates that point.
Secrets of the Super Searchers, by Reva Basch, US$39.95. Online Inc: (800) 248 8466, fax +1 (203) 761 1444.
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