Researching Trends - Resources and Search Suggestions
Researching Trends - Resources and Search Suggestions
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Link to Bonnycastle Library Catalogue
Searching for information
Searching for information
Consider what part of the information cycle you are researching.
Carefully consider what type of information you need
Statistics - How is the economy? What are people buying?
Are you interested in developing something new (Innovators) or connecting to something already trending (Influencers)
Social Media:
Social Media:
Depending on the trend you are searching, social medias sites may be a good preliminary source for information. Most social media platforms have a "trending", "discover", or "popular" option. This is a good place for you to mine important information
Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Buzzfeed etc.
Remember, that social media pushes information at you based on social analytics. Set up some alerts/searches to mine the information you want to find:
look for the influencers - who is everyone following?
what terms and ideas are prevalent?
what blogs, magazines, events etc are being talked about by people interested in your topic?
Social Media Aggregators:
Social Media Aggregators:
Feedly, TweetDeck, Flipboard etc.
BuzzSumo - can be very helpful locating influencers
Use the Web effectively
Set up a Google alert
Search Google trends
Subscribe to trendy blogs, news sites and social media profiles
Use an aggregator to gather information
Feedly, TweetDeck, Flipboard etc.
Databases:
Databases:
Databases are a good way to search a large number of appropriate and credible sources quickly and easily. They are also a good choice when looking for the history of a trend or to see what is being written about the topic in magazines, periodicals, and news sources.
Be mindful of your search terms. You may have to try a few search strings. Databases are an excellent way of finding out what the industry is talking about. There are subject specific databases. You may want to take a trip to one of the universities to use their business databases.
Gale's PowerSearch allows you to search all of Gale's databases at one time. It includes news articles, videos, country overviews, and primary sources.
EBSCO Discovery is search all St. John's-Ravenscourt databases at one time. This is an excellent way of accessing a large number of resources with one search.
Market Research:
Market Research:
Pew Research Centre: "Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. "
Statistics Canada: Consumer news, Canadian statistics and links to other related sites. Browse by Subject provides links to additional statistical information.
Look at the Indicators and In the news sections
CIAWorld Factbook: Great place to go for basic information about a country
Census Bureau Home Page: Statisitcs from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Remember to cite your sources.
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