beyond information gathering to data analysis. Information professionals ... previously published basic components of va
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nformation professionals are being exhorted on all sides to add value if they intend to survive and thrive in today’s challenging economic environment. This probably resonates most strongly with independent researchers and corporate librarians. For example, the SLA Alignment Project, in its presentation titled Positioning Information Professionals for the Future (www.sla.org/PDFs/alignment/ SLA_presentation_ddV12.pdf), recommends that we move beyond information gathering to data analysis. Information professionals should “provide insights and identify trends” to “facilitate good decision making.” This is not a new concept to readers of ONLINE. Since my January/February 2003 article, “After the Research: Information Professionals’ Secrets for Delivering Results,” much has changed regarding how information professionals present research results. Discussions have cropped up on forums and in presentations about providing value-added
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research and deliverables to our clients. To update my original article and explore best practices, I once again took to the streets (figuratively) and queried corporate librarians and independent researchers. I asked, “What does valueadded deliverable really mean? What does it mean to you, the researcher? What does it mean to your clients?” VALUE-ADD IS A MINDSET
One thing hasn’t changed: The meaning of a value-add deliverable lies in the eye of the beholder. Value-add means whatever clients say it means—to them and to their organization. It’s how the client wants the research delivered that counts. Their intentions about how they plan to use the information will guide the researcher toward the appropriate level and type of value-add. To quote myself from my 2003 article, “It’s essential that the research information be presented in a format that is easy to interpret and utilize for key decision-
making. Deliverables should be customized to the client’s needs, which are identified during the reference interview.” It is important to not only ask clients how they want research results delivered but to also offer options. Clients often don’t realize how many deliverable options are available to them. Would they prefer analysis, raw data, a PowerPoint presentation, a three-to-five page summary, a full report with backup, or a video? Another important question, one that could dictate the format of a deliverable, is, “What are you going to use the information for?” In my interviews, both special librarians and independent researchers echoed the view that value-add today includes the movement toward providing recommendations and/or analysis of the research when appropriate. In addition, value-add means incorporating new technologies and social media research when time and budget allows. Before discussing recent developments, I’ll review some
previously published basic components of value-add, with a focus on current trends. REMEMBER THE BASICS
I consider synthesizing and organizing research results a basic value-add. Many of my clientele consider the following components important to a basic research deliverable template: • Cover page • Table of contents • Executive summary • Research summary • Detailed findings • Recommendations I always include a disclaimer and copyright page as well. Clients who place their emphasis on research synthesis and > JAN | FEB 2011
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rely on my analysis frequently ask not to see any of the detailed findings (the secondary and primary research results). Access/Information, Inc. is a 27-year-old consulting firm that provides competitive and market background research, coupled with trend analysis, document delivery, library management, and records management services. Its research staff summarizes the most important findings from source documents and recommends additional resources. It includes a competitor profile with a longer, indepth narrative and would include links to or full-text copies of the documents used in its research. NOTHING BUT DATA
Still other clients only want to review the raw data. Their job is analysis, and they’re not comfortable delegating it to someone else. They make strategic business decisions based on data and need to see—and feel comfortable with—the information provided to them. “It’s not always appropriate to analyze and repackage research results,” states Mollie Brumbaugh, corporate library and archives manager at HSBC North America, who is based in New York. “Quite of number of our research requests come from people tasked with making decisions on commercial lending and credit who always ask to see the raw data. It would not be the best use of my time (or theirs) to write up a report.” In addition, clients who hold positions as business and market research analysts are very good at interpreting and
spinning raw data into exactly what their companies need to make strategic business decisions. They often have access to sophisticated programs that corporate librarians, in-house research staff members, or independents may not have and that can propel the research to the next level. FORMATTING FOR FUNCTIONALITY
Amelia Kassel, in her November/December 2002 Searcher article, “Value-Added Deliverables: Rungs on the Info Pro’s Ladder to Success,” stated that, “A high-quality deliverable is much more than pretty. It’s functional, because organizing results into an easy-to-use document saves the client time.” One easy way to make the document more functional is to present salient terms and phrases in bold font. This saves the client time. Also, consider highlighting pertinent information in the secondary research findings, allowing the client to skim the article for the relevant parts. Many information professionals have included these formatting basics for years. Try experimenting with highlighting colors other than bright yellow, which can be hard on the client’s eyes. When formatting research deliverables, incorporate branding components that increase your company or department brand image. For example, I use a light blue/gray color for highlighting that coordinates with my logo and report-cover colors to maintain brand consistency. New technologies come into play here as well. Cynthia L. Shamel, president of Shamel Information Services in Poway, Calif., takes traditional online searching to the next level. She includes graphic elements provided by Factiva, such as bar charts, in her deliverables, with an explanation as to why they are important. To illustrate the important concepts resulting from a PubMed search, Shamel created a word cloud of the keywords using Wordle (www.wordle.com). “Value comes from analyzing the research output apart from what it actually contains,” she said. “News graphs and word analysis offer two ways to approach this analysis.” ANALYZING RESEARCH
Access/Information uses a template for its competitor profiles. 22 www.onlinemag.net
Nine years ago, Dialog created a Quantum white paper based on a presentation by Outsell, Inc. titled, “Creating Value-Added Research and Analysis” (http://quantum.dialog .com/media/pdfs/value_add.pdf). Many of its points are still valid today. It recommends presenting analysis in a “ready-to-use format.” Synthesizing raw data and analyzing it to make it actionable is the essence of value-add. Outsell’s take on value-add is summed up this way: “Ultimately, the value-add process answers the ‘So what?’ and delivers to the user or client ready-to-use intelligence that gets used. These activities provide the ‘bridge’ between raw data and intelligence and are actionable events: they require analysis and synthesis that, in turn, lead to opinion and recommendation.” The white paper goes on to use a concrete example: “[I]f the question is ‘Should we pursue a patent for the technology?’ first dissect this larger question into its discrete parts or questions. Possible questions could be:
What ‘Value-Added Deliverables’ Means Today
detective,” Naylor believes her analysis and brainstorming sessions improve her clients’ competitive positions.
• What other players are pursuing this or a similar technology and what do we know about them? • What government regulations surround the technology? • What is the financial viability of this patented technology?”
INCORPORATE NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Each discrete, smaller part of the original question can be answered, and then those answers can be combined in the final analysis to present the client with a summary, an analysis, and conclusions. Most of the analysis I provide to clients is highlighted in the research summary section of the report, using a text box with a gray color that again, keeping branding in mind, coordinates with my logo and report-cover colors. I title the analysis section with one of these three headings based on the scope of the research and/or the client: OBR’s View, Researcher’s View, or Research Note. Bullet points are used for an easy-to-read format.
The explosion of new technologies available to conduct and include in our research strategies, including new media, social media, blogs, YouTube interviews, forums, image databases, and alternative search engines, creates additional opportunities for information professionals to add value. There are a number of social media monitoring tools available, both by paid subscription and for free. I find the following to be the most useful: Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts): Under the dropdown menu for Types, choose among news, blogs, updates, video, discussion, or all. Alerts can be delivered once a day or as news breaks.
MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS
As researchers, we bring additional value by taking analysis one step further and providing recommendations on what to do with the information. Should the client move forward with a new product launch, new market segment, or other strategic business move? A word of caution about making recommendations, however. It is important that the information provider have a keen understanding of the client’s business/organization in order to feel confident in providing insights on strategic business decisions and advising a specific course of action. “In addition to information and analysis, provide actionable recommendations,” counsels Ellen Naylor, CEO of The Business Intelligence Source, Inc., a marketing consultancy that conducts primary intelligence, teaching and helping firms establish a competitive intelligence process. “Often clients receive our reports and don’t really know what to do about what we’ve reported!” Calling herself a “competition
Highlight salient information using colors that coordinate with your company or department logo, in my case blue and gray.
A Factiva bar chart generated by a search for news on a specific company showed a spike of interest that began in September 2009 when the company hired a new, well-known CEO.
Wordle generated this word cloud based on the text of a PubMed search on diabetes and cardiovascular involvement, which reveals concepts other than the search terms entered.
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“Another way to add value is to ask the client how they used what you sent them. Often our information and analysis helps clients reposition how they compete in the marketplace. I had a client who was a market leader but wasn’t gaining share as quickly as key competitors. My competitive analysis gave them what they needed to reposition themselves in the marketplace, and sales in the targeted product area were up 40% the following year. In other cases, we may provide the insight that entering a new marketplace is not going to be profitable. Not only are you helping them stay out of unprofitable business, you are preventing them from entering into long-term marketing and service agreements that would be costly to get out of.” —Ellen Naylor The Business Intelligence Source, Inc.
Icerocket (www.icerocket.com): Originally a blog search engine, Icerocket has expanded to search the web, Twitter, MySpace, news, images, and what it calls the “Big Buzz.” It has a Trend Tool in which you can enter up to five queries and track how they’re trending over 1, 2, or 3 months. Radian6 (www.radian6.com): A subscription item running at $600 per month (half that for nonprofits), Radian6 searches blogs, news, video, photo-sharing sites, micromedia (Twitter and FriendFeed), forums, blog comments, and Facebook public discussion forums. It provides analysis, graphs and charts, routing posts to specific staff members for response, and the ability to classify and tag posts. Reports include brand overviews, sentiment analysis, influence analysis, competitive analysis, and engagement analysis. The contract is month to month. Social Mention (www.socialmention.com): This free site searches more than 80 social media properties, including blogs, microblogs, networks, bookmarks, comments, events, images, news, videos, audio, and questions. You can set up alerts. Results include metrics for brand strength, sentiment, passion, and reach. Twitter Search (http://search.twitter.com): The classic search engine for Twitter does just that—it searches Twitter. Viralheat (www.viralheat.com): Another subscription site, Viralheat is priced at $9.99 per month for basic service, $29.99 for professional, and $89.99 for business. It searches a variety of social media, including Twitter, Google Buzz, Facebook fan pages, the real-time web, and viral videos, and it provides influence, sentiment, and viral analytics. 24 www.onlinemag.net
As researchers, we bring additional value by taking analysis one step further and providing recommendations on what to do with the information. While adding social media search tactics to projects can be time-consuming, the finding can bring the research results to life or locate nuggets of information not derived from the secondary or primary research process. Be sure to review the privacy policy and terms of use at specific social media sites before including social media and blog results into the research deliverable. If you have questions, ask a copyright attorney to make sure the content is handled correctly. MAKE EFFORTS TO FOLLOW UP
Take the time to follow up with clients. This offers them the opportunity to provide feedback on the research, ask questions, and inquire about the next steps or ongoing research (such as setting up alerts). “Another way to add value is to let the client have some time to digest our findings by reading them first,” says Naylor. “Then let them ask you questions that you respond to in a meeting, either inperson or over the phone. If possible, I like to get their questions ahead of time, so I can think through the answers before our meeting.” Including social media research, providing analysis, or making recommendations based on the research can add a great deal of time to the research and synthesis process. When quoting a project, be sure to include the extra time it took to provide these value-add components into the proposed budget. If budget constraints are an issue, fall back on the basic components of value-add deliverables. Equally important, conduct a thorough reference interview with the client to understand fully the purpose of the research and how the information will be used. Offer the client a menu of research deliverable options. Be open to creating a new, customized deliverable format that meets the client’s exact needs.
Angela Kangiser (
[email protected]) owns Online Business Research (www.onlinebusinessresearch.com). Comments? Email the editor (
[email protected]).
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