Present Yourself

Chapter 6. Research and Collaboration

IN TODAY’S COMPLEX, INFORMATION-RICH world, two skills rise to the top: research and collaboration. The more quickly you can find the information you need—and the more effectively you can put it to use—the better you and your company will fare.

Using SlideShare for Research

SlideShare is a great place to conduct research online because it is free, and the content is easy to find and share. How can you use SlideShare for research? We talked with some information professionals to find out.

Marcy Phelps, past president of the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP) and owner of Phelps Research, uses SlideShare and recommends it as one of her favorite sources for business information. “It’s great for picking up market statistics, identifying experts, and getting competitor insights,” she says. Although she doesn’t always find answers to specific questions, it is a valued tool in her toolbox.

Similarly, Ellen Naylor, former board member of the Strategic & Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) and CEO of the Business Intelligence Source, points out that SlideShare is a great way to stay up on what the competition is doing. “And it’s a great way to learn as well,” she adds.

For example, one of Ellen’s colleagues, a librarian at a corporate library, was asked to explain the concept of gamification to an executive who didn’t believe it was a real word. She went to SlideShare, searched for “gamification” (as shown in Figure 6-1 ...