Confirming what you know and finding what you don't
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. […]
Using Google for research and investigations can be a good news/bad news situation. The good news is that Google is a great starting point for finding answers and leads to even more answers. The bad news? Sometimes, it’s not so great. Most often, you get too much information, increasing the risk of missing something important. […]
No matter what type of work that you do, gathering information is an important first step. Planning an investigation? Preparing for big business decision? Conducting due diligence? All require some digging into the backgrounds and actions of individuals or businesses, looking at industry trends and best practices, or generally getting smarter before taking action. A […]
At one time, if you needed access to court records, you went to the courthouse and manually searched through paper filings. Thankfully, things have changed through the years, with more and more court records posted online. It’s made our jobs a lot easier, but it doesn’t come without its own set of myths and challenges. […]
When you’re using online sources for in-depth research or investigations, it’s easy to get lost in a hyperlinked rabbit hole or two. Even if you have a strategy and a focus, one thing leads to another, and, before you know it, you’ve spent too much time online, with too few results. So, how do you […]
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–can be costly. That’s why it’s important for researchers and investigators […]