Secondary data research
Introduction
Information you need can be found in
internal company records, libraries or official sources. The secondary
information falls into two areas:
Official:
This includes information gathered and published by federal, state and local
government agencies. The largest collection of web sources providing
statistics, compiled by Karen Blakeman of RBA Information Services[1]
. This includes census data, trade and
industry data, demographic statistics down to a suburb level and changes in
social trends
Non official: This covers data which
can be obtained from sources such as the internet, newspapers, magazines,
reference books, trade directories, trade associations, banks, universities, technical
colleges, research institutions and publications from market research
organizations.
The most common background sources
are encyclopaedias and dictionaries from the print and on-line reference
collection. Class textbooks also provide background information
[1] Blakeman , K. (2012, June
27). Statistics . Retrieved from http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/stats.htm
Common background sources
• Read the background information and note any useful sources (books, journals, magazines, etc.) listed in the bibliography at the end of the encyclopedia article or dictionary entry. The sources cited in the bibliography are good starting points for further research.
• Look up these sources in catalogues and periodical indexes. Check the subject headings listed in the subject field of the online record for these books and articles. Then do subject searches using those subject headings to locate additional titles.
• Remember that many of the books and articles you find will themselves have bibliographies. Check these bibliographies for additional useful resources for your research.
By using this technique of routinely following up on sources cited in bibliographies, you can generate a surprisingly large number of books and articles on your topic in a relatively short time.
EXERCISE 1
Find and search the individual online catalogues of many libraries around the world directly using Libdex:
[1] Directory of library across
the world as well as an extensive collection of books: http://www.libdex.com/