Building & Running a Successful Research Business: A Guide for the Independent Information Professional by Bates Mary Ellen

Author:Bates, Mary Ellen [Bates, Mary Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent Publishers Group
Published: 2010-04-11T21:00:00+00:00

Playing by the Rules

Many independent info pros start their businesses while still working in a corporate environment. It is tempting to squeeze in some of your own work during the day—accepting clients’ calls on your cell phone, using the information resources available to employees for your outside research projects, and so on. It is especially tempting to take advantage of your organization’s flat-fee contracts with the professional online services such as Factiva or LexisNexis. “Hey, we’re paying for all-we-can-use as it is; what’s a little additional research?”

Resist that little voice in your head. It is wrong, it is unprofessional, and it is cheating. It is as tacky as stealing office supplies to furnish your home office. On top of all that, you will never learn how to determine the true cost of online research if you piggyback onto services that you do not have to pay for yourself; when you finally do quit your day job to run your independent business full time, you will have no idea how to accurately estimate costs. And finally, you will never forget or forgive yourself for these ethical lapses.

The same principle applies when using public library resources. It is tempting to call your local library and ask the reference librarian to conduct a search for you. “I mean, they’d do it if my client called directly, wouldn’t they? I’m just the client’s agent, right?” In this case, no. You are passing off the results of someone else’s work as your own; you are using the scarce resources of a local library on behalf of someone who probably does not live in the community that the library is intended to support and that, in turn, supports the library through its taxes. Last but not least, you are using the necessarily limited resources of a public library when you should be providing your client with the full breadth and depth of resources available to you as an independent info pro.

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