from our newly launched handbook: MASTER BASIC DIGITAL TOOLS FOR RESEARCH available on any Amazon marketplace.

With “Master ADVANCED Digital Tools for Research” to be released end of April 2025, both handbooks focus on conducting research projects using the most appropriate digital tools, techniques and resources, with smart information searching at the forefront.

Why? Because smart searching allows you:

  • to stay in control of your information, rather than letting the tools dictate what you should see;
  • to find the best data and information, even it is lost among millions of them;
  • to identify information disorders, indispensable in our fake news age;
  • to develop a critical and skeptical mindset toward the information you are exposed to;
  • to ensure quality research results.

Our last posts discussed the best digital tools and the best techniques to conduct research projects.

Here are our most important lessons about “entering” any information.

  • Audience, authors and channels are the basic constituents of any information and offer various entry points for investigation.
    There are basically three ways one can “enter” into a piece of information. The first is to look through the audience (who they are, their needs, what they want, the type and form of results they expect). The second is to look into authors/publishers (i.e., who might have said something about what I need to find). The third is to view through the communication channel used (i.e., social media, radio, TV, blog, newspapers, scientific journals, books…); each channel has its characteristics and appeals to different audiences. To approach a search for information by thinking about these three entry points (audience, authors and channels) can be very helpful to locate interesting content, especially when one starts a new project and has little clue on how to proceed.
  • Communication channels have two main markers. First, the time proximity to what is communicated (from very immediate social network posts to books and encyclopedias written months or years later), second the formalization level (from raw and spontaneous accounts to high-level analysis). Ask yourself what is needed, timewise and formalization wise.
  • Different frameworks exist to investigate information. We highlighted two easy-to-remember ones. The WWWWWH framework, which stands for Who-When-Where-Why-What-How. It is a great method to approach, interrogate, select and assess any information and project. It has and is been used widely. The Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary grouping is another one which rests on time and formalization. There are various other frameworks to examine and organize information.

Besides the above, keep in mind the following:

  • Our brain is slow and performs better if data and information are grouped and categorized. Establishing explicit connections between them makes them meaningful. You can do this in different ways: along the research requirements, the topics (and subtopics), the main concepts, types of sources, formats, authors, publishers, geography, time, among others. Select the one that makes more sense to you and your research environment. Organizing information hierarchically is quite powerful since it moves from a flat structure (in which all pieces of information are at the same level and disconnected) to one where each connects meaningfully with others. Provided these connections are explicit, the information becomes more meaningful. In complex and long-term research projects, such information organization methods greatly help, as they contribute to making sense of what you collect and deliver. Nevertheless, a quality data and information organization is not easy to set up; it needs practice and humility. Doing this with colleagues and friends can help.
  • The process of ordering, grouping, connecting, and contextualizing your information results adds meaning and makes the whole thing easier to comprehend, retain, and act upon. To add value to your research, R.L. Ackoff’s 1989 DIKW model is worthwhile considering. As you move from Data to Wisdom, with Information and Knowledge in between, you enhance your results, give them meaning and have them acquire the status of knowledge. It also helps knowledge acquisition.

    The DIKW hierarchy is usually represented as a pyramid. Questioning, filtering and matching are central to establish relationships, then patterns, then principles between the different elements. These activities are central to any research activities. As a research project unfolds, data and information get fewer to end with the essence: the answers to the research questions, knowledge and/or wisdom.
  • Make sure to adapt your research process to the nature of your research. No need to set a detailed search strategy and to search for ages, for a quick and easy research project or/and when the information is a nice to have but not vital. Use good sense. Keep in mind Vilfredo Pareto’s 80/20 rule, with the last 20% of most projects being highly resource-intensive, with often little extra value. Setting some deadlines may be a wise guardrail.
  • It is important to be able to quickly identify web results that are sponsored, commercial, or advertisement; even if some are skillfully disguised. Some are clearly labelled as “Sponsored” or as “Ads”. Others have an add flavor, even if they are not labelled as such. There is a term in English for such content; it is « advertorial ». According to the Cambridge Dictionary, an advertorial is “an advertisement in a newspaper or magazine that is designed to look like an article by the writers of the magazine ». A way to spot advertorials is to check if you can find companies or products’ names, or if an entity endorses or sponsors the message (the company may sometimes be mentioned in the URL, at the top or at the bottom of the page or document). Also, lately, authors and companies often disclose whether they have any conflicts of interest. This practice is frequent in financial and medical papers.
  • In those cases, and actually with any content and information, if there is one thing you should do is to ask yourself, “why this information”. It helps to grasp the intentions behind any. This is a quick way to assess the reliability of an information.
  • The form of the message may also reveal the authors’ intentions. Examine the language (words, tone, etc.). It might be factual and neutral supported by images, the case of an IKEA instruction to assemble a furniture. No statement of position. Whereas the style may be emotional, strongly expressed if the aim is for you to adhere to a cause or if it wants you to purchase something. Finally, the expression might be artistic and esthetic if it is a work of literature, i.e. writing for the pleasure of writing, a novel for example.
  • Researchers should exercise vigilance and skepticism at all times, especially if some content causes them to react strongly and/or when crucial decisions are based on them. Our most important takeaway for any that rely on information for taking important decisions, is to adopt a critical, skeptical, and vigilant attitude, to question information without respite, while not becoming paranoid. It takes time, is tricky but is the price to pay to take decisions based on quality information. Strive to provide “4R” information: information that is Relevant, Reliable, Recent (Current) and Rich.
  • Last but not least, remember that any research of a certain complexity and size is not a smooth and tranquil river. There are many stops, redirections, and frustrations along the way. This is perfectly normal, especially with our gigantic confusing online galaxy. Your research needs and strategy may be questioned by the information you find along the way. It is necessary to be agile, flexible, and even courageous to reconsider your initial search plan, and sometimes to restart (almost from scratch). Being able to switch between various tools, sources, issues, and pieces of information, to shuffle through lots of them, while remaining focused, to identify in a blink which one is adequate, and know how to prioritize are the major challenges of any researcher. By implementing some management techniques (such as those described in this handbook), you will be able to get better results. And the more you do it, the better you become. Also, by acting upstream, your ride downstream will be smoother. As with many arts, practical experience is key. In closing, future AI-based tools may help researchers, so their development should be closely monitored.

Our second handbook (Master ADVANCED Digital Tools for Research) to be released end of April 2025, discusses advanced search tools and techniques: various alternatives to Google, some deep web resources, some professional information systems, and some recent information channels, such as social media and multimedia. We see as well various competitive intelligence techniques, as they can greatly empower any researchers. Our Smart Researcher’s 10 Golden Rules conclude our handbook.