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Survival Skills for Coastal Resource Managers
Information Survival Skills
Library Research
Internet Research
Managing Info on Your Computer
Using Listservs and Groups
Assessing Internet Sources
Exercises - Organizing Info
Interviewing Experts
All About Questions
Survival Skills for Coastal Resource Managers

 

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Interviewing Experts

Benefits of experts

In addition to those situations where experts are the only source of information, for most research projects there will be many benefits to using experts. Because you are dealing with a live person, you have the ability to gain clarity and a broader vision of a problem or process by careful and thoughtful questioning. A book or Web page can never answer that spontaneous, tangential question brought out during an interview. In addition, the process of interviewing experts can provide the following benefits:

  • Puts information in context
  • Allows you to discuss topics that are most relevant to your information needs
  • Clarifies confusing or conflicting information
  • Finds current information "hot off the press" – timeliness
  • Extracts opinions not often found in printed materials
  • Reveals other sources of information or other experts
  • Provides in-depth information
  • Helps isolate critical issues that you need to become knowledgeable about