1. Research as conversation… Who, What, Where, When, Why & How! OSU Valley Library Sept. 24, 2003

2. Who … is talking /creating the information? ► Individuals? Special interest groups? Government? Business? presents / publishes the information? ► Newspapers & magazines? Scientists & researchers? Special interest groups? Government? Individuals? will hear / read the information? ► Who is the potential audience?…must have one or it won’t be published.

3. What… do you already know? are other people saying? do you still need to know?

4. What… kind of information do you want/ expect to find? ► Opinions? Propaganda? ► Facts or statistics? ► Research studies? ► Summaries? Overviews? ► Reviews or critiques? ► Comparisons of positions or products?

5. Where… is the conversation taking place? Does the information come from? (format) ► Current news media? Radio, TV, newspapers ► Journals? ► Books? Libraries or bookstores ► Experts? ► Gov’t documents? Do you look for these? (tools) ► Media websites, news databases ► Article databases ► Online catalogs ► Personal contacts ► Online catalogs or WWW

6. When…. did the conversation start? ► At the time of the event, i.e., immediately? ► Within a few days? ► Within a few weeks or months? ► Years later? did the conversation end? ► Specify a date range in your search

7. Why…. would a particular source create or provide this information? ► To persuade or sell? ► To inform? ► To entertain? is this a resource you would use?

8. How…. are you going to participate in the conversation? ► Listening – aka reading ► Thinking ► Evaluating ► More listening ► Writing