JOUR 233: Information Gathering   Tags: journalism  

This guide contains resources and tips for finding the following kinds of information:

• background on people
• business info
  
• info on non-profit or non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
• statistics & data
• government reports & info
  
• legal information
• public records
  

Use the tabs at the top to learn how to find different kinds of information.

Below is a short list of books on info gathering techniques. The better you know the tools, the more success you'll have investigating!

• Cuillier, David. The art of access: strategies for acquiring public records. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2011.
• Investigative Reporters and Editors. The investigative reporter's handbook. Boston: Bedford/St.Martins, 2008.
• Hetherington, Cynthia. The manual to online public records: the researcher's tool to online resources of public records and public information. Tempe, Az.: Facts on Demand Press, 2008.

Database & website content provided by the library

In addition to the free website resources recommended in this guide, the library provides access to additional proprietary website content & databases containing things such as newspaper articles or corporate information.

From on campus, accessing a resource paid for by the library will be a seamless process and you won't even know you are passing a threshold into what the library pays for you to access.

From off campus, all you need to do is log-in with your name and OAK or PID password when prompted. This identifies you as being from OU. However, even the best technology fails sometimes, so if you have problems accessing a database, try these steps:

1. Sometimes the problem is with the off-campus computer you are using, so first try these troubleshooting tips. For further info about remote access, see this LibGuide.
2. If you are still having database access problems, then its time to contact the library staff for help (phoning is fastest). We'll check it out and get you back in business as soon as we can!

1. Allow more time than you think you need to find information

 You can't predict what stumbling blocks or delays you might run into.  What if you discover you can't find something online and will need to visit City Hall, but its 7PM and your deadline is the next morning at 9AM? You don't want to utter that phrase "If only I had started looking for this earlier...." !

2.  Use a combination of sources of information to get a true picture of a subject

Even if a source doesn't have the exact piece of information you are looking for, it may still be useful as a jumping off point. For example, in a newspaper clipping you might find: the names of corporations related to your subject, mention of court cases, or names of experts you can interview.

3.  Be prepared to visit places to request documents or information

 Not everything you need will be found online (especial public records or primary source documentation). You may have to contact a municipal office, such as City Hall (talk to office staff, clerks) or visit a Courthouse to request documents.

4.  Be prepared to wait for open records requests

For an individual's private public records, even at a public institution such as Ohio University, you will likely have to fill out an "open record" request. This request protects the privacy of individuals, and prevents sensitive information such as health information or social security numbers that might be in a document to be released to third parties (at OU an open record request may take a few weeks, so this method might not work for something you need in a week or less)

5. Evaluate each source of information critically

If the source of a piece of information "seems" reliable, that's not good enough. You will need to evaluate sources carefully. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Currency -- how recent is the information?
• Reliability -- does the creator of the information provide references? 
  
• Authority -- what are the author's credentials? What organization published or sponsored the information?
• Purpose / Point of View -- is the information fact or opinion?  do you see a bias?

Isn't Googling for information a good place to start?

Yes, it can be. Web tools such as Google & Wikipedia can be useful for finding quick information (definitions, names of key players in an issue, basic outline of how a historical event unfolded, etc.) but you should never just use these tools for all of your research. There is too great of a chance you will come across erroneous information.

What you can do with these tools, though, is get an idea of when an event happened and who the key players are, then take that information and go to more reliable sources* to find relevant newspaper articles, government reports, statistics, and so on.

*often called the "deep web" -- pieces of information that cannot be found by Google's search engines -- information located inside newspaper archive databases, government websites, business information databases, statistical data sets (such as the U.S. Census), and so on...

OK, so how can I find information in the "deep web"?

Start with this research guide, or any of these other research guides on various topics written by library staff (also called "LibGuides.")  You will find links to both library-subscription resources (the library pays for you to access, such as Lexis Nexis) but also many links to free information on the internet. Our job is to find great information resources and tell you where they are!

Does the library have public records?

The library does not have access to all public records.  What we do have access to are University Archive records, which are records from OU's past, such as records & documents about former employees, students, OU presidents, etc. You may or may not be allowed to see some records without first filing an open records request (ask the Univeristy Archives staff on Alden Library's 5th fl about this). The same thing would be true if you asked for records at other OU offices such as Human Resources or Payroll.

As far as public records from other agencies, many of them can only be accessed at the place the record originated from, such as City Hall, Court House, Government Agency, etc., IF that agency doesn't provide them on the web (some do). Library staff can help you find the right place (online or otherwise) to go ask for a specific public record, but we don't have access to them ourselves. see the Public Records section of this guide

If you can't find what you need using the resources in this guide, here's how to get help.

General Help

• use any of the OU Libraries Ask a Librarian services
• talk to someone in person at the Learning Commons Desk, Alden Library, 2nd fl
• contact Diana, Journalism Librarian, via the tools in the box above

State of Ohio & U.S. Government, Statistics & Legal Resources Help

• visit the Government Documents Dept, Alden Library, 5th fl (contact info)