Information is eternal. Information is time, information is money and information is power. Those countries which have the fastest access to information are more developed, prosperous and powerful. The need of the day is to organize information in a more lucid way. Here the big question is “How to gather and organize information?” . Well this article is about gathering or you can say accumulating information. In my next post, I will be writing about Organizing information in a better way. All your comments and suggestions are positively welcomed.
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From last few days I am working on our project “Organizing & Preserving information for the future”. In this project my work is to gather as much information as I can on a particular topic from various sources and then organize the same in a pre-specified format. The main purpose of writing this article is to preserve my research on various ways adopted by me for gathering data/information from various resources for the said project.
Gathering data/ Information on any topic
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Online Methods
Let me share some of the methods adopted by Me for accumulating as much information as I can on a particular topic/subject.
Google is the most powerful search engine of the world, which can be used to get information on almost anything. It has organized the sum total of the human knowledge in its Giant database. By using Google you can go for a complete web search, image search, video search, book search and news search on any topic. Try to visit at least top 10 search results on the topic. Google Search.
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Wikipedia
While searching over Google, you will come across a website named “Wikipedia- The Free Encyclopedia’. Well, after Google, Wikipedia is a wonder in itself. Perhaps it is the best and the largest encyclopedia of the world. In Wikipedia you will find high quality articles on almost any topic or word. Wikipedia can be defined as the “Sum total of human knowledge’. You can also search Wikipedia articles directly from wiki site search engine. Wikipedia Search
Encyclopedias
After reading articles from Wikipedia, if you want to get more information , then search the topic over other encyclopedias.
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Some of the most Popular Encyclopedias of the world are :
- Britannica.com – Nearly boundless research tool.
- Encarta Online – Abridged version of software.
- Encyclopedia.com – Simple and free encyclopedia.
- Information Please – Encyclopedia and dictionary in one.
- ehow – Encyclopedia on how to guide.
- Wikihow: How to manual that you can edit.
Online Amazon & Google Books Search
You will never find true substitute to books. It is always advisable to do a search over the Amazon Book Search and Google Book Search for purchasing books on related subjects.
Scribd.com
Scribd is a social publishing website where tens of millions of people share original writings and documents. Scribd’s vision is to liberate the written word. You can also search this website for getting valuable documentary information on your topic. Click here
Article websites
Further, you can also search over many article websites for more information. Personally, I will like to recommend you 3 article search websites (1) Findarticle (2) Ezinearticles (3) Go Articles
Online Dictionary
You can get the meaning of any “word” by accessing popular online dictionaries such as (a) Merriam Webster (b) Dictionary.com (c) The Free Dictionary (d) Cambridge Dictionaries (e) Your Dictionaries
Forums
Further, you can search the database of many powerful forums for getting information which are posted by its members & moderators of the forums. Search the forum which is related to the category of your topic and then go to the forum site search for getting more information. When it comes to forums I will like to recommend you some powerful forums like Digital Point and Topix.
Blogs
The age of 21st century is the age of Blogs and Bloggers. Now here, the big question is What is a Blog ? and Who are the bloggers ? Well, a blog is a shared on-line journal where people can post daily entries about their personal experiences and hobbies. A person who keeps and updates a blog is mainly known as a blogger. Do a search for popular blogs and read the articles posted by powerful and talented bloggers for getting deep information on your topic.
Offline Methods
Well, after finishing your online search just take a cup of coffee and then prepare for searching information in offline mode. Offline mode includes manually searching Books, Magazines, Newspapers , publications and other documents. If required go to a nearby Library for exploring more information about you topic.
Books on getting Information
If you want to get mastery over Getting/ Gathering/Accumulating information on any topic, then read the below given books.
- Looking for Information, Second Edition: A Survey of Research on Information Seeking, Needs, and Behavior (Library and Information Science) by Donald O. Case (Hardcover – Dec 12, 2006)
- Organizing Knowledge by Jennifer Rowley and Richard Hartley, Jennifer Rowley, and Richard Hartley
- Organizing Information: From the Shelf to the Web by G. G. Chowdhury and Sudatta Chowdhur
- Organizing Information: Principles of Data Base and Retrieval Systems (Library and Information Science) by Dagobert Soergel
- How to Start a Home-Based Professional Organizing Business (Home-Based Business Series) by Dawn Noble
- Fundamentals of Information Systems by Ralph Stair and George Reynolds
- Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites by Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville
- Advances in Applied Self-organizing Systems (Advanced Information and Knowledge Processing) by Mikhail Prokopenko
- Researching on the Internet: The Complete Guide to Finding, Evaluating, and Organizing Information Effectively (Prima Online) by Robin Rowland and Dave Kinnaman
- Knowledge Without Boundaries: Organizing Information for the Future by Michael A. Chopey
- Organizing Information Level D (Skill By Skill)