Abridged with permission from Henry Stimpson’s PR and Marketing Tips

It’s easy to just Google whatever you’re researching and stop there. Well, don’t just Google! You’re likely to miss invaluable information that isn’t anywhere on the Web. Trust me—I was a research librarian before I went into PR and marketing many years ago.

Here are a few key research tools that can turn up lots of great information that Google can’t.

Online databases—free from your public library. Let’s say you want to see all magazine articles about “risk management.” Your public library probably subscribes to the Gale/Infotrac databases. And, with your library card number, you shouldn’t have to schlep to the library—it’s all online. For instance, when I typed in “risk management,” in the General BusinessFile database, up popped 10,000-plus references from publications worldwide—all with full text.

Subscription media-research tools. How can you find every trade publication that specializes in the autobody repair industry? Who’s the legal beat reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times? Who covers personal finance at MarketWatch.com? Which magazines will have focus issues on leadership this year?

You can find some, but not all, of this information on the Web—but it’s often incomplete and very time-consuming to unearth. With subscription services like Cision and MyEdCals—to name just two among many—it’s a snap.

With the author’s permission, we would like to add a couple of our favorites:

The Nexis portion of LexisNexis. This subscription-only online database covers most of the world’s English-language periodicals. But know what you want before searching – Nexis charges per minute.

Dow Jones Factiva. Factiva is a searchable online database of 17,000 news and business publications that charges an annual subscription fee plus a small fee per article retrieved.

Henry Stimpson, APR, is president of Stimpson Communications in Wayland, MA, a public relations firm. Contact him at 508-647-0705 or Henry@StimpsonCommunications.com.

Posted in Audience research and strategic planning, Writing and Editing