Marcy Phelps and Associates

Vendor wish list – Making sure an upgrade isn’t a downgrade

January 23, 2019 / by Marcy Phelps / Information industry, Information sources / 2 comments

As an investigator, I rely on my collection of premium databases for hard-to-find information. You’d be surprised what you can’t find through Google. Over the years, I’ve worked with lots of different vendors who offer great products and customer service, and they’re well worth the investment. To their credit, database providers often upgrade their products […]

Looking for more privacy?

January 2, 2019 / by Marcy Phelps / Search tools / 0 comments

Judging from blog statistics, readers can’t seem to get enough of Google alternatives – especially privacy-based search engines. Clearly, many of you are tired of Google’s practices, including collecting and sharing your data and customizing search results. It’s not just privacy issue. As an investigator, I need to avoid filtered results, since I don’t want […]

A year-end wish

December 22, 2018 / by Marcy Phelps / Odds & Ends / 2 comments

To all my friends – Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and share your comments. No matter what you celebrate during this time of year, I hope it has been or will be full of joy. Wishing you a very happy and healthy 2019!

The ins and outs of checklists

December 10, 2018 / by Marcy Phelps / Investigative business / 6 comments

Mistakes happen. Sometimes we forget. Perhaps we’re stressed by tight deadlines. Or maybe we assume that something’s been done, and we skip steps. In investigations, risk is all about what we’re missing, and skipping steps can lead to trouble. Enter the checklist. While listening to a recent episode of one of my favorite podcasts, Hidden […]

From librarian to private investigator

November 22, 2018 / by Marcy Phelps / Investigative business / 0 comments

I recently spoke with Chris Kenneally of the Copyright Clearance Center for his podcast, Beyond the Book. Chris noticed my LinkedIn post about pivoting from librarian to private investigator and wanted to talk more about it. Ever since grad school, I’ve focused on how to use my Master’s degree in Library and Information Science and […]

Best and worst business advice I’ve ever received

November 7, 2018 / by Marcy Phelps / Odds & Ends / 0 comments

Hand writing the text: Need Some Advice?

I recently responded to a reporter’s HARO (Help A Reporter Out) request for the best and worst business advice I’ve received and my advice for future business owners. My response was published along with others’ in a series by BestCompany.com. Here’s what I said. Credit goes to Mary Ellen Bates for the best business advice […]

Making better decisions – Avoiding confirmation bias

October 24, 2018 / by Marcy Phelps / Investigations / 0 comments

This article originally appeared as a guest post on the Access/Information blog: Information is power. We’ve all heard this before, but are you basing your decisions on a limited or one-sided viewpoint? Whether we’re conducting market research, due diligence investigations, strategic planning – or just keeping up on the latest topics – we rely on […]

How well do you know your candidate?

October 9, 2018 / by Marcy Phelps / Due diligence hall of shame / 2 comments

The political season is in full swing, and not a year goes by that you don’t read something that makes you wonder – Why didn’t they know about this before? A recent example is my latest entry in the Due Diligence Hall of Shame, because, in politics – as in life – it’s good to […]

Background investigations – Don’t skip the media report

September 24, 2018 / by Marcy Phelps / Tips/Techniques / 0 comments

Due diligence background investigations come in all flavors. They’re generally customized according to industry, level of risk, and time constraints. There’s one component, though, that should be included in all background checks on people and companies – the media report. What’s a media report? It’s the section of a background investigation that covers news and […]

The Ostrich Effect and due diligence investigations

September 10, 2018 / by Marcy Phelps / Due diligence / 2 comments

African ostrich hiding its head in the sand

As an investigator and an information nerd, I was intrigued by a podcast from the NPR Hidden Brain Series about the Ostrich Effect. We’ve all heard about it – burying your head in the sand to avoid learning what we don’t want to know. It seems that this ‘no spoilers’ mentality, as NPR describes it, […]

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