A Closer Look my Client's Responses to My Questionnaire

After getting a response back from my client I took a close look at what she said and was able to summarize it into a quick look sheet that makes note of the important relevant information about my search subject/information inquiry:

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- Information Need/Inquiry: The extinction event at the Permo-Triassic (KT) boundary with a focus on articles that mention the physical extinction of life, NOT the meteor impact theory.

- Type of Information Needed: Scholarly Journal Articles and to a lesser degree of importance, Statistics.

- Where to Look: In databases or including terms like geology, geoscience, environmental science, or geography. Databases are believed to be best for locating this kind of information, though popular articles of relevance can be included.

- When Information is Needed: By or before April 23.

- Prevalent Authority or Authors on the Subject: None known or preferred.

- How will Information be Used: Primarily in a presentation about the Permo-Triassic Boundary due April 23

- Timeliness of Information Publication: Recent or Valid

- How is the Information to be Presented/Provided: Full Articles and their Citations

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It is important that I keep all of this in mind as I look for information for my Client. I printed this reference sheet and it will help me stay on track and focus my searching. I expect that I may have to make some changes after I provide my Client with a few search results, but through this back-and-forth communication I can learn more about what she really needs/wants and preform better searches.

Questionnaire and Answers

Below are the questions again and my clients answers. The questions are in Blue and her answers are in Purple:

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First of all, what would you like me to find information on for you?
- The type of information I'm looking for mostly is about the extinction event at the Permo-Triassic (KT) boundary. If you can find information more about the physical extinction of life as opposed to the proposed meteor impact, that would be very helpful.

Questions About Subject Area:

1.) What kind of information are you looking for? Research Studies, Reviews, Articles, Statistics, Interviews, etc?
- I will most likely be looking for scholarly journal articles and occasionally statistics.

2.) What subject/s does this information request fall under? (ex. biology, business, psychological)
- Typically this information will fall under one of the following headlines: geology, geoscience, environmental science, or geography.

Questions About User:

1.) How soon do you need the information by? (on or before May 4th?)

- The information is needed sometime before May 4th, April 23 if possable.

2.) If you have conducted any preliminary searches already, what

kinds of searches were they and what did you find?

- I have only used Google Scholar, and occasionally other article databases like ScienceDirect and Proquest Science Journals.
3.) If you have searched, what terms did you use?
- I cannot recall at this point in time. I tend to search for various topics related to my classwork.

4.) Do you know any prominent researchers/authors in this field or

any specific journals or periodicals you would want to use?

- No, I have no preference.

5.) How will you be using the information?
- The information will be used in various projects and presentations throughout the semester, most notably on a presentation about the Permo-Triassic Boundary due April 23.

Questions About Sources:

1.) Do you prefer databases over a web search engine? Vice versa? Or doesn’t matter?

- I have no preference, though I've noticed that databases give a higher amount of returns most often.

2.) How recent do you want the information to be? Restrictions on publication year of sources?
- How recent the publications are doesn't matter as long as the information is still valid.

3.) How much material do you need- a large amount of material, a few

good articles? Can you give a specific number range? (large and a few depends on the individual, a range, like between 5-10 or 20-25 is more defined and lets me know what is expected in return)

- Between 5-10 articles should be sufficient.

4.) Do you want only scholarly articles or can you also make use of popular articles?
- Scholarly articles are preferred, though if the popular articles are relevant those are also acceptable.

5.) Do you want me to provide you with only the citations, citation

and abstracts, or the full articles?

- If possible, the full articles.

5.) What format do you want articles and citations?
- Articles as PDFs and APA format for citations.