Super Searchers Make It on Their Own

Citation

Mason, D. (2003), "Super Searchers Make It on Their Own", Online Information Review, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 66-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520310462644

The Super Searchers series continues with this its tenth book for and about information professionals. Like others in the series this book is a collection of extended interviews with leading researchers. Previous books delved into how specialists in various disciplines went about their tasks and revealed their strategies and sources. In this book the author asked 11 researchers how they got started and their tips for running a successful research and information brokerage business.

Although basically on the same topic, each interview is different, and the questions do not follow a standard format. They all start with a question about work and education background, why and how the searcher struck out on their own, how they acquire clients, how they keep clients and how they manage the running of their business. All the businesses are small, mainly one‐person operations with occasional contract help. But like most small businesses, their specialisation makes them interesting.

The researchers are mostly well‐known speakers and writers in the industry, and, although a few are specialists little known outside their local area, other have achieved a global audience. The interviewees are Mary Bates, author and business researcher; Thomas Culbert, aviation expert; Jodi Gregory, healthcare specialist; Martin Goffman, patent searcher; Lynn Peterson, public records; Mark Goldstein, public policy; Chris Dobson, corporate library consultant; Crystal Sharp, Canadian business; Margaret Carr, value‐added research; Chris Sherman, search engine analyst; Amelia Kassel, market research. Each interview finishes with a summary of key points, and all sources, organisations etc. mentioned in the interview are listed with addresses or URLs in an appendix.

The interviews give a feeling of informality, even intimacy, and the length of the interviews (averaging 22 pages each) gives enough space to leave you feeling you really know the person. You get to know how they organise their home life, how they deal with staff and clients, even how they price jobs. Each interviewee discusses his or her philosophy of searching and reveals favourite sources and sites. Most also discuss their use of the Internet and how it is changing the role of the information professional and the expectations of clients.

While the interviews are revealing of the personalities, this is definitely not a handbook for getting your own business up and running. The advice is all very general, anecdotal, sometimes contradictory, and all based in the North American business environment. The stories of how the various individuals started are interesting and varied, but most took place 20 or more years ago and have little relevance to today’s startups. A better title would have been “super searchers who have made it on their own”, since these are all long‐established businesses. There is very little hard advice on managing staff, bidding for work, marketing yourself, networking, time allocation, or any of the other myriad things that make the difference between success and failure in a small business. Equally, there are no interviews with people who failed, so there are no insights from that area. However, the book is interesting reading and gives invaluable insights into how top professionals balance teaching, speaking and meeting client deadlines, while still managing to keep up‐to‐date in the world’s most rapidly changing field.