Research Tools and Techniques for Analysts:
Refining Your Online and Offline Research
(Our
public
course)
A recent survey by Convera found:
A commanding 95 percent of professionals
find Internet search engines an aid for
conducting work, yet only 40 percent say
they are very satisfied with the results
Less than 25 percent of professionals
are very confident that when using
popular Internet search engines they've
looked everywhere to find answers
Businesses pay employees to hunt for
information that can't be found and make
decisions without all the facts.
More than 60 percent disclosed they do
not ask for help when lost, while 80
percent said they have never been
trained to use the advanced search
feature.
Are all of your analysts and staff among the 25% of professionals who are
very confident with their web research? Are they among the
80% who haven't received research skills training?
If you want to improve your staff's ability to efficiently
and effectively conduct online and offline searches, this
course is for them.
This program will provide:
An overview of online searching, telephone and email
research
A review of legislative, judicial, regulatory, factual
and international research
A review of public and private information sources
Research is a fundamental job requirement of
many jobs in Washington, DC, and
our
research skills courses can help your staff perform
this work more efficiently and more effectively.
Search Techniques: Refining Your Online and Offline
Research
Why go beyond Google?
What are Google and other search engines good for?
Keys to finding and selecting resources beyond Google
Online search tips: Searching on a topic - synonyms,
variations; Applying filters - carefully - to increase
precision
Selected resources
Improving Your Search IQ
Federal Legislative Sources
Brief review of how a bill becomes a law and the primary
documents generated along the way
Demonstration of Primary Sources: THOMAS, GPO Access,
and more
Review sources for Bill Summary and Status, Full Text of
Bills, Congressional Record, Committee Information
Review sources for
Public Laws, Statutes at Large, US Code
The importance of knowing a database's contents
Tips on using specific terms, alternative terms, and
applying filters
When to use people resources
Courts and Judicial Sources
Demonstration of Primary Sources and discussion of
commercial resources
Limitations of free Web resources for legal research
Legal research vs. retrieving legal documents
Field searching, pearl searching, citation searching
Review Primary legal documents; legal research
terminology; the structure of a decision; how to cite
Supreme Court documents and procedures
Email alert services
Federal Agencies, Administrative and Regulatory Sources
The regulatory process and corresponding documents
Finding the best tools within the agencies
Demonstration of Primary Sources: The Federal Register,
the CFR and more, and how to cite
Administrative Law: review documents agencies generate,
as well as information agencies require and make public
OMB
Identifying Information Sources
How private research sources differ from government
research sources
Value-added, specialized, editorial, copyright
Tapping into information from think tanks, policy shops,
trade associations, libraries, specialty press, state
government
Locating international organizations on the web and
where to start your research
People Interviewing Tips
Do your homework first
Email vs phone
Who can you call? What can you expect?
Respecting your sources
Review of Online Search Tips, and Q&A
Research is a process
Learn from the first search; try again
Review results skeptically--remember Jason Blair
Get a second source
Lunch and breaks scheduled as appropriate
All custom training is tailored for each organization and
audience. Topics from this program can be combined with
topics from our other programs and with topics from your
existing training programs.
Sample Agendas
Sample agendas of different versions of this program tailored for
previous custom clients are available.
Variations of this program have been presented for
federal agencies and multi-national corporations.
Our
selected client list includes clients who have
purchased custom training, sent staff to our public
programs and who have purchased our publications.
The fee for this program depends on the location,
number of attendees, length, and training materials.
Call us for details, or complete our
custom program information request for more
information.
If you don't have enough people for a custom,
on-site program, you can still train your staff at
our
public research skills course.
The
program
fee includes pre-program development and design,
materials for your internal marketing and promotion,
all course materials, and
faculty chosen for your topic and your audience
at the time and location you choose.
Our custom program clients provide the
classroom/meeting space, all audio visual equipment,
any food and beverages, all registration functions,
and travel arrangements for attendees. When the
program is held outside the Washington, DC metro
area, travel arrangements for faculty can be made by
the client or by us.
We can also provide meeting space, audio visual
equipment, food and beverage, registration, and
travel arrangements, though this affects program
cost.
TheCapitol.Net, Inc., is a non-partisan small
business, and a Virginia corporation. We are
registered with CCR. See our
Capability Statement and our
About Us page for more details.
TheCapitol.Net is a non-partisan firm, and the
opinions of its faculty, authors, clients and the
owners and operators of its vendors are their own
and do not represent those of TheCapitol.Net.
All custom training from TheCapitol.Net is tailored for each organization and
audience. Topics from this program can be combined with
topics from our other programs and with topics from your
existing training programs.
Public Course
If you don't have enough staff for a custom, on-site
training program, you can still train your staff at our
public course.
Rave Reviews
"[This program will]
help me manage the massive amounts of info that I
receive by giving me tools to be more efficient.
Exposed me to resources that I didn't know about and
gave me lots of ideas on how to be more efficient and
better organized. I will always come back to
TheCapitol.Net and encourage my colleagues to do so." -- Senior Policy Associate, National Recreation and
Park Association
"Provides additional avenues to information and new
ways to use the web more effectively." -- Research Analyst, National Marine Manufacturers
Association
"I learned some really great techniques and tips today."
-- Public Policy Manger, United Health Care
This course is taught by faculty members with at
least 15 years of experience performing research in
Washington.
Internal Marketing
To help you publicize and market a custom program to
your organization's audience, we can provide printed
materials and language for your own internal
promotion and publicity.