The 8 A’s of information.

Dennis Gaulin, infolab@ripnet.com

The gathering, delivery and application of quality information is essential to sound decision making. The process is complex, and requires expert knowledge and professional competence through a number of steps to ensure quality results. But the process can also appear deceptively simple and is often undervalued. My “8A’s of information” provides a simple model that clearly identifies which steps in the research process are the responsibility of the professional researcher and which apply to the information client.

As a researcher, this model helps you articulate your core competence and the value of your services. You can use it as a basis for many activities - professional development, marketing your services, developing a business plan, or simply explaining what skills you bring to a project.


The 8 A’s of information:©

1. Articulating information needs.
2. Anticipating information needs (prism thinking).
3. Awareness of information resources (spheres of information).
4. Access to the information resources.
5. Acquiring the information.
6. Assimilating the information.
7. Applying the information.
8. Assessing the information’s impact.

1. Articulating information needs

Information researchers are experts at knowing where to look for information, but frequently know less about the environment where the information will be received, assimilated, and applied. In striving for excellence, researchers must continue to maintain a high level of research capability, but should also develop a holistic awareness of their information client’s environment.
 
Enter the reference interview. Here the researcher addresses cognitive gaps that exist between themselves and their client. During this interview, the “who, what, when, where, why, and how” of the information need is covered in whole, or in part, unfortunately often times at the discretion of the requesting client.

The thoroughness of the reference interview has a significant impact on the research end product and the efficiency of the information retrieval process. It almost goes without saying that the better you understand the environment your information clients are working in, the better able you are to meet or exceed their expectation.

But this reference interview process is by and large a responsive process to an articulated need. What of recognizing your client’s information needs before a request is made?


2. Anticipating information needs

A way to anticipate information needs invokes prism thinking. Prism thinking modifies the traditional information process that starts with articulation of needs. Instead it starts with having the information researchers anticipate an information need. The following story exemplifies this approach:

As a member of a Fortune 500 Company’s intranet team, I listened in on a conference call dealing with the purchase of a specific software product. As all the parties were being introduced I took note of the name of the software vendor and pushed the mute button on my phone. I proceeded to search the Security and Exchange Commission filings for this U.S. company. The results were then filtered in chronological order. Bingo! A filing by the company from the previous day, pursuant to disclosure requirements on events of “a material nature”, revealed that this company was being sued for patent violations on the very product they were trying to sell our company.

I hit the mute button and re-entered the conference call making my findings known. The room fell silent. I then hit the mute button once again as I performed a “happy dance” around my office.
As a result of acquiring this critical information, the decision to purchase the software was postponed until further assessment could be made, likely saving the company both problems and money.

Despite their due diligence, other involved parties could not have been expected to have access to such up–to-the-minute information. Note that no information need was ever articulated. I had performed proactive prism thinking.

A prism approach to information

As information professionals delve into the decision maker’s domain and understand the application of the information they provide, they are better able to “prism think” and bring added value to their organization. Just as a prism takes in white light and refracts it into a spectrum of various colors, so can a trained information researcher with a holistic view ofnthe business environment take in “white information”, assess it, and break it out into information packets for delivery to the full spectrum of potential benefactors. As these information packets hit the mark in assisting in business solutions, you may find that your reputation will be enhanced and opportunities for promotion presented.

Although originally hired as a credit analyst, I studied alternative sources of credit and business information to help justify the extension of billions of dollars in trade credit to customers. This provided me with the ability to identify resources, access those resources, and acquire many types of information.

With promotions over the years, I learned that the vast majority of business problems can be translated directly into information questions. I consciously chose to find answers to questions, sometimes articulated, but often left unspoken. Whether it was at the water cooler or in meetings, I listened with an ear for problems requiring information solutions. Let’s call these opportunities ‘info-ops.” I would then attempt to match the info-ops with the information resources that I had available and pass relevant findings on to those who could benefit from them. Over time, this practice of listening and sharing information, allowed me to obtain a more holistic view of the business environment.

Information researchers embody all the attributes of the modern knowledge worker. Prism thinking, extended to other employees, can be the beginning of a cultural change that provides fertile ground for knowledge sharing to take root and grow.


3. Awareness of information resources

Information researchers are competent in knowing where information “hay stacks” are located. Their knowledge of resources provides an internal compass, guiding the search for information.
To provide a panoramic view of these resources, let’s conceptualize them as concentric spheres of information, starting with the center bulls-eye:

• INNER-net: your own internal world of information and experience. It is the gray matter between your ears.
• INTRA-net: all the systems and information that can be found electronically within your organization’s internal computer systems.
• EXTRA-net: builds upon your INTRA-net to include electronic linkages between your organization and its suppliers and customers. This is usually a semi-closed environment.
• INTER-net: a pipeline and provides access to both free and fee based resources.
• inter-NOT: non-electronic forms of information. These include your network of contacts, colleagues , experts and other human resources, in addition to traditional information resources, that are not retrievable in electronic form.

For a professional researcher to conduct comprehensive searches, they must be aware of the resources in all five spheres. It is no coincidence that the human brain both centers and surrounds the inferior electronic spheres.


4. Access to the information resources

For most information researchers there is often a vast difference between awareness of a resource and gaining access to it. Some sites are password protected, gated communities exist, and barriers can be numerous. It is the responsibility of professional researchers to learn and develop strategies to legally gain access to the best sources in the most cost effective manner. (Hacking is not recommended!)


5. Acquiring the information

Successful acquisition of required information does not always flow from access alone. Enter the arcane commands of some commercial databases, syntax and indexing inconsistencies, the complexities of Boolean logic, proximity, truncation, spelling variances and other language variations.


6. Assimilating the information

Rare are the information clients who truly appreciate the skills required to locate and obtain precise gems of information that can make or break critical decisions. Whether the expertise required in locating the right information is appreciated or not, the information provided is the raw material for decision making. Once that information is received, it must be churned with the end user’s intellect, intuition, and imagination before its application can be determined. This information is “brain food,” and the organization and presentation should encourage its consumption.

7. Applying  the information

Applying refined and processed information to concrete problems falls within the scope of the decision maker/information client. Professional researchers cannot be held responsible for how others apply the information they have been provided. However, researchers are accountable for the quality of the information which they deliver.


8. Assessment of the information’s impact

It is extremely important for the researcher to get feedback on whether or not the information supplied was appropriate:

• Was the information specific enough?
• Were the articles of appropriate depth and breadth?
• Were the sources considered credible?
• Was the statistical data sufficiently current?

 
 The gathering, delivery, and application of quality information is complex. The value you bring to the table is a skill set that few understand or appreciate. The 8A’s of information should help you articulate your value.

Info-ops abound. So start “Prism Thinking” and enhance your position and value.


Background

Dennis Gaulin is happily pursing his “passion for teaching information literacy” from Brockville, Ontario, Canada. As the “Chief Thinking Officer” for Infolab Inc, he conducts seminars and provides consulting services to businesses throughout North America. Dennis is the author of Gaulin’s Ready..Net..Go, an internet guide for credit and financial executives. He is currently working on his second book which will examine the practice of “Prism Thinking.’ If you would like to be interviewed for his book or wish to obtain a copy when published later in 2003 email me or call at 613-345-6945.

This article originally appeared in Freepint.com, January 23. Copyright Dennis Gaulin.

scip.online, issue 26, February 24, 2003 www.scip.org