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.

E-Mailed Questionnaire

Today I E-mailed the following Questioner to my client that will help me search for the information they are looking for:

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First of all, what would you like me to find information on for you?

Additionally, could you provide answers to the following questions that will help me in my searching...

Questions About Subject Area:

1.) What kind of information are you looking for? Research Studies,
Reviews, Articles, Statistics, Interviews, etc?

2.) What subject/s does this information request fall under? (ex.
biology, business, psychological)

Questions About User:

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

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

kinds of searches were they and what did you find?

3.) If you have searched, what terms did you use?

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

any specific journals or periodicals you would want to use?

5.) How will you be using the information?

Questions About Sources:

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

2.) How recent do you want the information to be? Restrictions on
publication year of sources?

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)

4.) Do you want only scholarly articles or can you also make use of
popular articles?

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

and abstracts, or the full articles?

5.) What format do you want articles and citations?

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