2. Effective Information Search

2. Effective Information Search: Primary and Secondary Data All business
information, written or oral, should be based on facts. There are two kinds of
facts: primary data and secondary data.
Primary data are those that you or your staff collect without someone else‟s
interpretation of that information. Items of this nature include raw data, memoirs,
questionnaire returns, artifacts, diaries, interviews, and the like.
Secondary data are those that others have previously reported in journals, books,
magazines, pamphlets, newspapers, public opinion polls, etc.
For one to be effective in one‟s search for relevant information, one must:
o identify the problem, or what the information should be about, i.e.,
identify the subject matter and the purpose of looking for it.
o Develop a strategy for the search; this will dictate the type of information
that needs to be collected (primary, or secondary, or both).
In order to find secondary information, one must be familiar with the methods, or
ways of storing it.
Organisations Providing Information include varied sources ( mass media:
newspapers, TV, Information Bureax, News Agencies, reference books, libraries,
etc.).
Using the Library: There are several systems of classifying material store in any
library:
o The author index is arranged alphabetically by authors‟ surnames (and
the initials, if the surname is the same).
o The subject index, also arranged alphabetically by subject and its
subdivisions.
o The classified index contains cards in numerical order (the disadvantage
of this is, one must know the number!)