Search for information in the network according to the specified criteria. Information search stages

LECTURE 6. FORMATION, MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION OF USER INFORMATION FLOWS IN VIRTUAL INTERNET ENVIRONMENT

Information search methods.
Finding information in social networks.
Finding information using search engines.
Formation of user information flows using RSS technologies.
Formation of user information flows using mailing services.

INFORMATION SEARCH METHODS

The problem of finding reliable information is one of the most urgent in modern society... The very fact of storing a huge layer of human knowledge in the virtual space of the Internet does not guarantee the effectiveness of information retrieval and its reliability. Even if the required information is given in a convenient form, it is ultimately a person who has to master it. And the efficiency and quality of his work will depend on how much he knows the methods of searching for reliable information.

Information search stages

The first stage is the formulation and clarification of the information request. This stage traditionally plays a leading role. The subsequent choice of found data will depend on how correctly the query is formulated. information resources... At this stage, it is advisable to carry out:

Formulating a request in natural language;

Determination of the purpose of information search;

Determination of the required search restrictions;

The final wording of the information request.

Determination of the purpose of information search, which allows you to identify the degree of required completeness of information, which also affects the choice of search engines. Traditionally, the opposing goals of information search are:

Preliminary acquaintance with the problem;

Thorough study of the problem.

As a rule, the usual purpose of searching for information lies somewhere between these two extremes, that is, the user needs a certain amount of information, but he does not need the absolute completeness of the information.

The main restrictions traditionally include: restrictions on the types of publications, languages \u200b\u200bof publications, on the geographical and chronological scope of the search. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly find out:

Information from which sources the user is interested in (articles, monographs, conference materials, etc.);

What language;

What is the geographic scope of the search;

What is the chronological scope of the search.

For the final formulation of the information request, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive lexical analysis of the information to be searched. The user needs to get from any source a detailed and competent description of the issue under study. Such a source can be both a highly specialized reference book and a general encyclopedia. Based on the material studied, it is necessary to formulate the maximum a wide range of keywords in the form of separate terms, phrases, professional vocabulary and clichés, if necessary in several languages.

The main goal of the planning stage of the search procedure is to determine the ways and means of a rational solution to the search problem. It includes development general program search. In parallel, the selection and assessment of the quality of search engines is carried out, and the search for missing information is carried out.

The selection and assessment of the quality of search engines must be carried out in terms of their compliance with the real information needs and the specifics of the request. Each user has specific requirements that influence the choice of a search engine, its content and capabilities. When choosing a search engine, you need to pay attention to the following parameters: the volume of the search engine index, quality control of the information contained in it, the possibilities of query languages.

Search tactics and tools can vary significantly depending on not only on the subject, but also on other query parameters. A number of general guidelines should be followed here.

So, for example, the nature of the search is entirely determined by the content of the search task set by the user. And in this regard, it is important to distinguish that at first the search is, as it were, tied to the topic and to the goal of a detailed, comprehensive development of its plan, when a wide coverage of information sources is especially necessary.

Consequently, at first, the search for information resources (that is, collections of documents) is carried out to a greater extent. And only then information search is concretized, limited by the immediate content of the search problem being solved. At this stage, the search for the documents themselves predominates.

Of course, throughout the entire search process, various types and methods of search should be combined in two main directions: on the one hand, from general classification search engines to domain-specific resource indexes, then to specific documents and the facts contained in them; c the other, from unique query words and phrases to domain specific resource locators and / or to specific documents.

The final solution to the search problem... It also includes creating the tools needed to solve it.

At this stage, you need to follow these steps:

Selection of a set of information resources on the topic of search;

Searching information resources;

Assessment of the completeness of information;

Expansion of the range of information resources.

At the stage of selecting a set of information resources on the topic of the search, a search is carried out in the set of search engines selected at the planning stage. The search can be carried out both from specific to general and from general to specific. As a result, a list of information resources is formed, which may contain information on the issue. The list of information resources is planned in such a way that the resources, complementing each other, cover the information on a given topic as much as possible in accordance with predetermined search restrictions. If their range is too narrow, the search results may turn out to be unsatisfactory, and if they are too wide, the complexity of the search increases.

At this stage, it is necessary to clearly define what is known about the required information and what is unknown, but it is necessary to find out. For example, you might know the name of a clearinghouse of interest but don't know its URL. Thus, it is necessary to form a list of requests to find the missing information. This list is generated based on the keywords identified and the available resource information.

The search for the missing links of the resource description (metadata) is recommended to be carried out using search and meta search engines... However, if nothing is known about the resources you are looking for, it is advisable to turn to classification search engines or specialized dictionary search engines. If the user is not a specialist in this field, he should refer to the classification search engines with scientific quality control (information gateways).

"And today about the first stage - Search and collection of information.

If there is a task / problem / goal, but there is no solution to it, then the stage of searching for this solution inevitably begins.

And the more correctly the problem is formulated, the easier it is to find a solution.

If the problem is trivial, then one step in finding information is enough - open internet search engine , we make a request - and we have several sources of information.

The main skill required in these cases is correctly compose the request. But this also needs to be done competently and it also needs to be learned.

I think that 90% of people limit themselves to this level of work with information. There was a problem - I went to a search engine - I got an answer.

If the tasks do not go beyond this framework, namely, to find an answer to an everyday question or to be aware of news events, then bother about building personal system working with information is probably not worth it.

For those who work with information is the need to collect and process large arrays, expressed in 1,000 units of files or books, the creation of a system for working with information will be simply necessary.

The need for a system of work with information

Any specialist high level there is a library of knowledge.

Knowledge has no boundaries and requires constant improvement and renewal.

The collection of information in this case is systematic. Those. information is entered into the knowledge base - constantly.

But the need for a system of working with information arises not only among professional specialists, it also arises at the household level, in the personal life of every person who strives for self-development or at least to streamline his life.

Life can proceed as a continuous stream of continuous activity. In such a flow, it is difficult to isolate and structure the individual parts. A person lives and everything, that's enough for him.

But our life can be diversified, we can structure our life goals, give meaning to our existence and our whole life.

You probably already know such a tool for analyzing the current state as The Wheel of Life. It allows you to assess your current situation and determine in which areas development is needed.

There can be several such spheres / directions (as a rule, no more than 10): "Health", "Spiritual development", "Sport", "Career", "Family", "Finance", etc.
Improvement in any area requires knowledge. And this process begins with the collection of information, namely with the formation of a personal library on these topics.

So, the presence of a system for working with information is required both at work and in personal life. As you know, there should be a balance between work and personal life.

Why do we collect information?

So that the collection of information does not become an end in itself, let us decide why we are collecting information.

«… we collect information not in order to accumulate knowledge, but in order to take the right action ", - said the management guru Peter F. Drucker.

It is important to remember that the collection of information is not for the sake of collecting and not only for the accumulation of knowledge, but in the end - for making the right decisions and achieving our goals, regardless of work or at home.

When, where and how to collect information?

Let's answer these questions.

When?

If a knowledge base of a specialist is formed, then the information is constantly updated. New information appeared, the headline attracted attention - information immediately enters this database.

You can form a folder "For consideration" and regularly process new information, deleting unnecessary, and distributing the necessary among the thematic directories of your system (we will talk about the systematization of information in the following articles).

If a specific task is being solved that requires a decision, then the collection of information can be situational and be one-time. Those. collected - solved the problem - received a report - a report for storage.

It's like management in a Company: maybe regular management or maybe situational ... Both, oddly enough, work.

But controllability, transparency, lack of fuss and stress, and ultimately - the effectiveness of regular management is much higher.

Those. answering the question - when - it is possible according to the situation, but certainly better - regularly and using Technologies.

Where to collect information?

To do this, remember that there is information primary and secondary.

Secondary - this is information that is already available in any source, for example, in books, journals, accounting data, in the statistics department, in reports, previously conducted studies, etc.

Primary - this is information that is obtained directly for the purpose of solving this problem. These are various polls, interviews, observations.

Secondary information is collected, as a rule, in the process of desk research without involving others. A place: workplace, library.

If already conducted research is purchased, then we make a corresponding request and payment.

I think this is understandable. Secondary - this is information already available on any medium.

Basically, they work with this information, considering that the information exists only in this form.

But, you can get better information by interviewing an expert on a given issue, or several experts in order to compare points of view.

Or conduct a customer survey to get information - what do they think about your company, product and service.
Or brainstorming among employees to get a non-trivial solution to a problem.

All this refers to the collection of primary information.

The manager can make decisions - after listening to the opinion of one or two of his specialists. In this case, he also deals with collection of primary information .

Observation for human behavior, for example, in the trading floor - this is also the collection of primary information, on the basis of which decisions are made on the placement of shop windows, for example.

so , primary information - this is information that is not yet on any medium and we have to collect it by communicating with other people.

I think it will be more or less clear in general terms.

How do I collect information?

Let's answer this question, i.e. define what methods of collecting information exists.

As I said in the article "" - it is important to know the stages and methods of work at each stage.

We are now considering the first stage is the search and collection of information. And we came to the methods of collecting information.

Information retrieval methods:

1. Audit of their knowledge base.

You already have an accumulated database in the form of: files, books, audio and video materials. The first thing you can do is search through the information you already have.

As a rule, if the information is correctly systematized and codified, it is not difficult to do this. It is enough to ask Search by file name or in some other way, according to your codification.

If the information is not systematized, then you can make a search - by keywords in the text of the document. These operations allow Microsoft Windows.

Thus, specifying the required query criteria ( keywords ) you can easily find suitable folders and files inside your database.

The second step is to search your library for books and magazines in print.

Expanding the book list can be done as follows:

Start by making a list.

In my book "" I gave the main sources of information for compiling a list:

3. Search for references in specialized forums.

4. Various subscriptions to specialized mailing lists.

5. Participation in various electronic communities dedicated to your topic.

6. Shopping, including searching online stores.

7. Appeals to specialists with a request to recommend the necessary literature.

These are the main sources for a list of important books on a topic.

2. Desk research.

Having received information from your existing Knowledge base, you supplement it by:

Working with the library fund in central libraries, inquiries to statistical and archival services.

Work in search engines.

Viewing TV programs, video and audio materials.

At this stage of working with secondary information, you can finish and begin, if necessary, to collect primary information.

3. Communication with experts on a topic of interest.

Often experts give "clues" by which you can expand the scope of information search. Find out from an expert what sources of information are the most important, which books to read first, and so on.

The availability of experts is now being made to fit the Internet. It is enough to dial on Youtube your question - and there will be a lot of videos, lectures, seminars. The only thing left is to choose really decent experts.

But it's better to use live communication, thereby expanding their connections and improving communication skills.

4. Direct observation.

This is one of the methods for collecting primary information. For example, in order to take a social-demographic portrait of a retail outlet's visitors, it is enough to select one day that is most saturated with the flow and fill in the table - groups by age, gender and time. Highly helpful information for solutions.

5. Polls, questionnaires, testing.

There can be many methods: focus groups, brainstorming sessions, using the Ishikawa model, etc.

At the stage of collecting information, it is better to create some redundancy in order to then select the important and useful.

I will limit myself to this, I think that for the first time through the stage, the search for information is enough.

If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer. Please write in the comments.

Best regards, Nikolay Medvedev.

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