Confirming what you know and finding what you don't
News and social media searching is a big part of most of our investigations. Without the news, I wouldn’t have learned about a company’s legal issues that never made it to the courts. Without social media, I wouldn’t have seen what our due diligence subject did during a two-year gap in their work history. Without […]
We search for information all the time. We make decisions, take actions, move toward a goal, all based on what we find. As you’ve heard me say, though, finding information is only part of the process. In previous posts, I’ve covered the first few steps in the process, including preparing for the search, selecting the […]
I live and work in a new neighborhood, and there’s construction all around. I’ve watched (and heard) the crews work, and I’m always amazed at their efficiency. It’s a well-oiled machine, and one of the keys is that everyone on the crew knows not only what tools to use, but where to find them and […]
When you’re looking for information, whether it’s for an investigation, strategic planning, or making decisions, your sources matter. Skipping a source or using the wrong ones will change your results and may lead you in the wrong direction. And you never know what you might be missing. In previous posts I talked about the Big6 […]
Happy New Year to all! As we roll into 2023, most of us do what people seem to do at this time of year. We start fresh and set new resolutions, make new goals, and vow to do better.. If your plans include some self-improvement or professional development, you might consider working on your information […]
As many of you know, I’m a former librarian–although, once a librarian, always a librarian. I still use the information skills I learned on the job and in grad school on a daily basis, and I still teach them through this blog and through my social media, presentations, and online courses. When I say “information […]
As a professional investigator, I specialize in research, so most people assume I spend my days asking questions and running online searches. They picture me completing the search and sending results to my clients. Found it. Now I’m done. Move on to the next search. But, as you’ve heard me say, there’s more to research […]
This post was originally published in March 2021 As someone who specializes in gathering and analyzing online information, I’ll be the first to admit that you can’t find everything on the web. When you’re digging deep for hard-to-find answers to client questions, relying on just online research may leave gaps, which – in our business […]
Investigations involve working with clients from a variety of industries, and that means learning about the environment in which they operate. It’s the only way to get to the heart of client concerns. For example, when I started working with my hedge fund clients years ago, all I knew about alternative investments was the Madoff […]
Online searching is about much more than finding. Once you’ve run your searches, now what? And how did you get to the point of constructing some worthwhile searches? In a previous post, I listed several steps involved in the search process, and in this and future posts I’ll go into more detail about each step. […]