"Research Methods in Information", chapter 2

Chapter 2 is all about reviewing the literature and contains a wealth of useful tips for strategically conducting a literature review no matter what level of review one needs to accomplish. The structure of this chapter (and perhaps the whole book, we'll see) is marvelously clear. She sets out the steps/skills/stages (information seeking and retrieval, evaluation, critical analysis, synthesis) and explains the process(es) for each one including some really practical ideas for organizing them.

One of the things I'm finding most exciting and at the same time frustrating about the book so far is the suggested further reading lists at the end of each chapter. Exciting because they contain more information about topics I'm interested in and frustrating because I'll never have time to read them all.

I've been thinking about this last a bit recently because I've been feeling as if I need to find a workable (for me) way of organizing what I read (as well as what I need/want to read) and have even begun working on creating an Access database as a way to accomplish it. One of the things I'd like to be able to do is trace the network of relationships between documents (this one cited that one, etc.), partly because I think it would be interesting to see and partly because I think it might help me to organize the ideas (which already are too many to keep in my head).