The Skeptical Business Searcher: The Information Advisor’s Guide to Evaluating Web Data, Sites, and Sources

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.