Determining the starting point
It is important to ascertain the "starting point" of the enquiry in order to avoid wasting time on finding information which the client already knows. This is particularly important with complex enquiries for knowledgeable clients, where it may be relatively easy to access information at a simple level, when the client actually requires more sophisticated results.
In a complex enquiry from a specialist enquirer, it is likely that the enquirer has already undertaken some basic searching on their own behalf. Equally a well-informed enquirer may well be familiar with some or all of the sources of information in their field. You should therefore try to determine what research the client has already undertaken on the topic and what results were obtained. It is often helpful to ask the client's opinion on the usefulness or otherwise of particular sources.
A knowledgeable client may also be able to give you some guidance on successful and unsuccessful information searching approaches. However, do not make the assumption that, because the client is knowledgeable about the topic to be investigated, they are well informed about information sources and search techniques. Remember that you are the information-searching specialist (while the client is the subject specialist) and so you should critically evaluate any advice on sources and information searching techniques provided by the client.
We've now reached the end of this section. You can go back to any topic by using the menu at the left-hand side of the screen, or move on to the next section: Determining the nature of detailed information to be provided ...
