‘‘ I
nformation Managers usually cite answering research questions from their clients or organisation as one of their top activities1,2
.
In the commercial world being able to deliver well-researched, accurate and insightful reports for frequently asked questions or random demands is a fundamental requirement in the role of Information Manager. The service demands multiple skills all of which are being continuously honed and developed as you go.
Getting to the root of the question This is the most fundamental part of being able to deliver the right information to your customer. It is akin to reading the question in an exam. This part of the process should never be taken for granted. Digging into more details about what your client needs, and most critically, what they will use the information for is very important in making sure that the initial question they asked is really the one they need answering (experience will tell you that it never is). Those of us with library training can use their reference interviewing skill to good effect.
Finding and verifying your sources Once you understand the question(s) you need to find the best sources of data, information and knowledge to answer. Sources might be internal, external published knowledge, gray literature, your own or someone else’s knowledge or experience. The skills on show here are knowledge of sources, particularly external databases, not only what information is contained within but how to extract all relevant information. Knowing which sources may contain some useful nuggets of information, but that information needs to be acknowledged in the final report as needing to be treated with some caution.
January-February 2020
Answering research enquiries continues to be the best part of my working life.
It is important in the final output to indicate which data is 100 per cent trustworthy and which is less verifiable but may present some useful insights. Providing all the sources, correctly referenced, is also very important.
Analysing the information and
combining effectively to tell a story Very few questions have straightforward answers and most research requests require the Information Manager to combine information and data from multiple sources. Information Managers need to able to effectively and efficiently combine results from multiple sources, make a coherent whole and then provide useful insight and analysis. Different requests call for different techniques or a combination of techniques and methodologies, such as story-telling, statistical analysis, data visualisation and more. Here the final use of the results is probably the best determinant of output structure.
Presenting the findings: Decision-
ready or decision made? A decade or so ago research was usually presented as a whole report or presentation, with the client left to draw their own final conclusions. Today these presentations or reports usually back-up a maximum one-page executive summary that provides a synthesis of the results – something that is ‘decision-ready’ – meaning that the client can immediately use the results to decide on their next actions. And in further development of the Information Manager role, some information teams are working on another level and providing ‘decision made’ results where they propose the most appropriate next actions for the client/organisation based on the results.
My experience Answering research enquiries continues
to be the best part of my working life. Now I have my own business they are the very backbone of what I do. The best part is not knowing what the question will be; even similar sounding questions often turn out to need unique approaches. I am constantly learning more about how I can do my job better and acquiring new skills e.g. infographics or advanced Excel in order to improve my service to clients. As well of course as learning something about the topics I’m asked to research. IP
References
1 Carter D How real is the impact of artificial intelligence? The Business Information Survey. Business Information Review 2018;35(3):99-115.
2 CILIP (2018) CILIP/SLA Survey of Corporate
Information Services. Available at: https://bit. ly/35RIELx
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 35
Denise Carter (
denise.carter@dcisionconsult. com) is the owner of DCision Consult, a competitive intelligence & business analytics service provider to the pharmaceutical & biotechnology industries. Denise is also Chair of CILIP’s Knowledge & Information Management SIG.
KIM Matters
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