Article Surfing Archive

During the study period we considerably apply any information research upon assignments given to us by our teachers in Universities, after graduating we are constantly seeking information because of our jobs, simultaneously we have to update our common knowledge to be well oriented in fast and dynamic development of the world outside us. Despite differences in initial target of information research the whole process of seeking does not vary in general and has been partially explained and divided into six phases: initiation, selection, exploration, formulation, collection and presentation.

The initiation phase started with making statements in general of where and how to gather the information. The cognitive process prevailed over physical and caused affective process consisted of frustration, uncertainty and anxiety. These feelings were resulted from huge amount of available resources that should have been read and understood in order to identify more specified questions upon the task. Frustration and anxiety were strengthened by time limitations because the reading material was by large volume. Sometimes this affected the wish to either abandon research, apply the teacher's assistance in material search or change the task. In order to overcome this wish you need some time period.

This time is necessary to stop reading any new material and start analyzing what you have already done. It can be narrowed in a few questions that will help you to identify types of resources with the content which is as close to your task as possible. According to my experience this period was intermediate between first two phases of initiation and selection.

My approach was based on my previous experience of communicating and dialoguing with people. This approach does not demand dialogue participators who must strictly be professionals in the area of my research. The dialogue structure is based on just speaking about your current task to the person who even does not know anything about it. Upon my own feelings I had to suppose that such dialogues are needed to speak loudly about your problem so it becomes clearer and simpler while you are speaking. Usually by the end of communication you come to more distinct decision of what kind of information you need to find. Such conversations also help to overcome unpleasant feelings of frustration, anxiety and uncertainty. The phase of selection is characterized by feeling optimism because you can defeat your uncertainty and actually knew what to do and where to find.

During selection the only obstacle you may have is absence of easy access or lack of resources. In most cases selection and exploration occur simultaneously as you make correct selection upon materials content.

Every interpretation of information gained is assessed through the internal emotions and personal view, so every research inevitably reflects assessment of outer sources through interpretation made upon inner thoughts and personal attitude to the information.

The process of finding the answers to the questions caused the next phase of research ' formulation. The difficulty of your thoughts formulation eliminates feeling of doubt because you are 'busy' with your thoughts and do not have time to be doubt. The only thing you are engaged with is how to organize your ideas, form them in acceptable way and then present them in your conclusion.

The fifth phase of working with sources is collection. If tasks and sources were defined clearly on the grounds of certain thoughts and actions the collection process was accompanied with the feeling of confidence supporting the research clear direction. During the collection I had to make notes in order to make up further scheme of analysis. It is easier to analyze and see further direction to conclusion while using such demonstrative tools as tables, diagrams or schemes showing the information collected.

The last phase of making conclusion demands to show the presentation of all your thoughts interpreted in clear statements based on collected information and your own feelings and analysis of this information. This phase in followed either by feeling of satisfaction or disappointment while reviewing and assessing your research work's efficiency and significance.

After the satisfactory completion of research you can overview all the stages you have passed and assess them according to their complexity, time duration and emotional load.